He had been at this to see that it wasn't a few mad men, it wasn't good versus evil - it was decent men doing what they had to do to survive.

"You were flying a long way from home - tell them you were lost. It will go far easier than if they think you were a spy. There were clouds and high winds earlier, they will believe the excuse."

Because this wasn't 1914 anymore. Some of the knights of the air still existed, with their modernized codes of chivalry - but this was not shared by all.