Another post raid pic of Bremen

Hi Guys, I started this thread specifically to see what the reaction would be. So far it’s pretty much as I expected. War is a pretty nasty business and bombing is as nasty as any aspect. Fortunately we can do a lot more these days to put the bombs in the right place, but the arguements about what constitures a legitimate target will go on for as long as we fight one another. Having served in Bomber Command during the 1960’s I met many, many, guys who had been part of the campaign and later still I spent many a night in the mess bar with members of the Air Gunners Association. They were all pretty ordinary guys who did an extraordinary job, but the self-rightous politicians who sent them to do the job denied them a campaign medal, or even a clasp to the Aircrew Europe Star. At least the late Queen mother was courageous enough to unveil the statue to Harris when the politicians eventually got around to recognising his part in leading the Command.

KeithMac

I have mixed feelings about the area bombing policy but one part related to it always infuriates me. It is sometimes inferred that the whole area bombing concept was Harris’ idea, when actually he was brought in to carry it out.
Some of the criticism aimed at Harris, who did exactly what he was directed to do, emanated from the very people that gave him the orders in the first place.
Especially with the advantage of hindsight, I believe that the destruction of Dresden in particular was unnecessary and probably wrong. Churchill wrote a memo condemming the raid, just a few days after Harris had been specifically ordered to carry it out.

I don’t think many people who are interested in Bomber Command and it’s campaigns in WW2 ever “forget” the sheer devastation they were able to cause. WW2 was probably the only absolutely “total” war in that the participants applied hardly any restrictions to their activities (there were some exceptions). Area bombing of civilian targets by the RAF would have been virtually unthinkable in 1939, although the British fully expected the Luftwaffe to carry out such raids on Britain – presumably because of their behaviour in the Spanish Civil War. However, as soon as the limiitations of finding targets by night became obvious, the RAF fully embraced the notion of hitting city centres as a valid strategic objective.

I would highly recommend Max Hastings’ book “Bomber Command” for the background behind the political decisions to give the RAF the go-ahead to start striking what had been originally “off limit” targets.

Yes, it’s easy to criticise in hindsight, but I hope we can all remember there were people (just like us) at the recieving end. The picture may be of Rotterdam, Coventry, Essen, Nagasaki, Darwin, or Stalingrad, but in all these people died, or were maimed due to total war. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the technology and forget the effects. These pictures should serve as a reminder.

Certainly the Bremen shots were post raid, but at that time, late in 1945 the Luftwaffe were in no real position to put up much of an opposition. Low flying fast recce spitfires were not the priority. Even so the recce sorties were not without hazard.
It’s easy to see why after the war there was much critisism of Harris and the area bombing policy, but I personally believe that you can’t fight, and more importantly, WIN a war unless you take the big stick to your enemy. Bomber Command was a big stick which did tremendous damage and tried up vast enemy recources. I’ve no doubts about the effectiveness of the bomber campaign, even if it’s not PC to say so these days.

Were those photos taken post war or immediately after the raids by low level recce aircraft? If the latter, I appreciate the bravery of pilots going in that low so soon after a raid.

Hi Keith,

How about a recently converted Dortmund railway station, after a Bomber Command visit!

Cheers,
Neilly

Good to see you back on the Forum Keith !!:) , how many more photos have you got stashed away !!.