REAL HISTORY. ‘I have read the reviews of the biographies of Sir Arthur Harris with extremely mixed feelings and also Robert Kee’s letter. (8th July).
‘On 13 February 1945, I was a navigator on one of the Lancaster bombers that devastated Dresden. I well remember the briefing by our Group Captain.
Red Army
‘We were told that the Red Army was thrusting towards Dresden, that the town would be crowded with refugees, and that the centre of the town would be full of women and children. Our aiming point would be the market place.
Following orders
‘I recall that we were somewhat uneasy, but we did as we were told.
‘We accordingly bombed the target and, on our way back, our wireless operator picked up a German broadcast accusing the RAF of terror tactics, and that as a consequence 65,000 civilians had died. We dismissed this as German propaganda.
‘The penny didn’t drop until a few weeks later when my squadron received a visit from the Crown Film Unit, who were making the wartime propaganda films.
There was a mock briefing, with one notable difference
‘The same Group Captain now said, ‘ As the marketplace would be filled with women and children, on no account would we bomb the centre of the town. Instead, our aiming point would be a vital railway junction to the east.
A Black Mark
WITNESS TO HISTORY (Original). MIKE WALSH. From 1934, the British, Soviet, and American empires provoked war with trade rival Germany. The Christian Reich was overrun, plundered and occupied. This amazing illustrated best-seller tells you what the victors won’t tell you. Click the picture to discover more.
‘I can categorically confirm that the Dresden raid was a black mark on Britain’s war record.
The aircrews on my squadron were convinced that this wicked act was not instigated by our much-respected guvnor ‘Butch’ Harris but by Churchill. I have waited 29 years to say this, and it still worries me.’ – A. Williams, Nottingham. The Observer, August 8 1984.
EXCERPT: Chapter 17. A Most Uncivilised Means of Warfare: Witness to History.
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Categories: World War II
Funny how when it’s “our” side, “we were just following orders” is okee dokee, or they were “part of a strong command structure” etc. But OMG if the Germans had bombed a city like this, we’d all know the names of every single hebrew that died in it, worldwide. Sadly, the ppl of WW2 will not live to see the massive seachange in thinking as it is revealed as the monstrous war that it was, and not the only “good” war……
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oh yeah, forgot to add, a good documentary for its time in the early 90s was “The Valor and the Horror” by the NFB. It was a three part one, one part was dedicated to “bomber” Harris and the role of mass bombings. It caused a flutter with veterans at the time, as another part was about how the UK left the Canadians stationed in Hong Kong to their fate, and the war and the empire were still thought of as beyond approach. Combined with the Saturday Night article on the book “other losses” and the trials of Zundel and Keegstra, there was an awakening of WW2 truth in Canada in the mid 80s to 90s, but of course the government dealt with that.
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