My point was that such things very well could have become standard and looked like they were starting to when French partisan activity really flared after D-Day.
With an overall German commander in France who believed in retributive mass killings of civilians to deal with partisans it could have and I believe would have continued for months.
I disagree. I don't think Germany will have equivalent of blowtorch battalion in France. Oradour-like massacres might happen here and there but it will not be standard policy. Germany prefered to ship French to camps or forced labour than kill them on the spot.
Realize why things like the Malmedy massacre didn't become standard in Africa and later the West like it was in the East. Its because the illegal orders to kill POWs which were followed by commanders in the East whereas they were burned in the West and Africa.
Lets say the commander in North Africa didn't burn the Commando Order.
Rommel was one of the 12 recipients of Hitler's infamous, illegal Commando Order issued on 18th October 1942. This order to senior commanders ordered the immediate execution of all Allied Commando troops irrespective of circumstances of combat or capture. On receipt of the order Rommel called his Staff Officers together and invited them to each individually read the order. He then took it and instructed them that under no circumstances was this order ever to be put into effect by men under his command, he then burnt the order in front of them commenting as he did so - "And thus, in such a fashion is infamy dealt with".
Word would get back the Allies their POWs are being executed who in response would start shooting German POWs. Then German troops in response would start executing all Allied POWs in Africa. So, much of what you think of today as the norm for what happened in the East, West and Africa was a product of the actions of the generals willness to kill civilians, turn a blind eye to it or to follow orders to kill POWs.
And why this didn't happen? Because Germ military considered itself civilised institution and as such tried to fight clean war in West (including Africa). No matter how much they denied it latter they considered German Lebensraum dreams as good idea and had no troubles massacring Jews and Slavs.
Different people, different attitudes. People who had no problems shooting Soviet POWs got all touchy when it came to doing same to western POWs.
As I said, even W-SS showed restrained in the West while no such thing happened in the East.