THE BANALITY OF EVIL

Without a doubt Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris was inhumanly evil. Only in a deck of cards  of the most wanted war criminals could he be described as an ace. This man reeked of satanic intent as he concentrated the RAF's awesome bombing power on civilian targets, whilst those services that needed RAF protection suffered. Yet thus was he described by one of his personal assistants on first meeting him:

"A large man, rather pale with a complexion that obviously avoids the sun, with a ginger  moustache and hair of a blondish rather than a ginger colour. He had a reputation for being a no-nonsense man, and I could see why. At the same time, he gave off a sort of inner warmth – he was gruff and rather frightening but, underneath human and considerate."

Such is the description of a monster who hurled flames, even phosphorous across great  European cities, towns, and even villages, bringing the most appalling deaths to hundreds of thousands of civilians. As a touch of irony, in addition to the 55,000 RAF personnel who paid for their crimes without the necessity of going before war crimes trials, Harris's own brother, an aircrew member, died horribly.

RAF KAMIKAZE AIRCREWS WHO SERVED BOMBER COMMAND

Bomber Harris would say to assembled aircrews: "I want you to look at the man on either  side of you. In six months time only one in three will be left." He would then add that the reward for the survivors would be promotion in the ranks.

"…. But I you are the lucky one I promise you this: you will be two ranks higher."

Incredibly, instead of looking ashen these kamikaze flying Myra Hindleys cheered and beat  their table tops! So 55,000 didn't get promoted! There can be little sympathy, and certainly no campaign medal for airborne mass murderers, some of whom actually volunteered to do 'a few more for the butcher.'

ATROCITIES AT SEA

The British Royal Navy undoubtedly had its moments of glory but a number of atrocities  brought shame on 'the senior service.' One of the most notorious followed the sinking of the Greek cacique by the British submarine, HMS Torquay. A number of the Germans servicemen aboard found themselves in the sea, and whilst trying to swim away were machine-gunned on the orders of the Torquay's commanding officer.

Official reports never mentioned that they were slaughtered in cold blood; only that 'they  perished.' But Royal Navy sources claim that Commander Meir's logbook of that patrol admits that the crew did machinegun survivors.

This incident is believed to have caused near mutiny among the Torquay's crew, with the  submarine's first officer and a soldier aboard refusing to shoot the Germans who were members of an Alpine Regiment stationed on the Greek island. 38-year old Commander Anthony Miers, undoubtedly a war criminal as a consequence of this dreadful act, was later awarded the Victoria Cross in 'recognition of his services.' He died in July 1985 at the age of 78.

If there was any good at all that came from this infamy it was the outrage expressed by  Captain Stephen Roskill, the Royal Navy's official war historian who spoke of the machine-gunning of prisoners in the Mediterranean off Crete as 'disgraceful.'

There was a similar incident in April 1940 which followed the sinking of the German destroyer Erich Giese in Norway. A number of German survivors were shot out of hand. 

Interviews with German survivors, including the captain of the destroyer, Commander  Karl Schmidt, and inspection of British and German logbooks relating to the incident, reveal that an unspecified number of Germans were killed instead of being made prisoners of war.

THE BLITZ

Even today Britons are of the opinion that their country suffered enormously in the blitz.  Yet as late in the war as September 1941, the Economist conceded 'that only 2% of British real estate had been destroyed by German bombing, and that only a tiny fraction of that amount consisted of industrial sites.

Included a note which commented on the furious pace at speculators were buying the  bombed sites 'for a song'. This created such a scandal that the Government established a requirement that such premises when taken for the purposes of reconstruction, was to be paid for at the rates prevailing in March 1939.

Though there were no air raids on England in August 1941, the Royal Air Force was  conducting hundred-plane raids on 'scores' of German cities during that same month (articles 'Teeth for Two', p19 and 'Rebuilding England,' p61 Time magazine September 15 1941.

CHURCILL HUMILIATED

Churchill was often booed by angry crowds when visiting bombed areas of London. On  one occasion, standing on a mound of rubble, he cried out "We can take it!"

A cockney lady shouted back at him, with the applause of the crowd gathered around her,  "Yes, but it is us who are taking it, not yourself."

Churchill and his henchmen beat a hasty and embarrassed retreat.

(GERMAN) WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST

While Malta and British armed forces, especially the Royal Navy fought a losing battle  against the Axis the British Eighth Army endured one retreat after another. These pivotal forces were desperate for support. Yet Britain's factory and war effort was being concentrated on the genocidal bombing of Germany's civilian population.

As early as June 1942, when Britain was militarily at bay on all fronts, the RAF's 1,000- bomber raids were on a turkey shoot obliterating largely undefended German cities that were relatively unimportant in terms of war contribution.

RELATIVELY SPEAKING

By the end of the war for every ton of bombs dropped on Britain by the Germans Anglo-American bombs had dropped 315 tons on German cities.