Why is bomber harris a hero when he murdered innocent wome and children?

Question

He dropped bombs unjustified

Answer 1

The allied forces followed a dual strategy, where bombings of industrial centres, logistic key items etc, would slow down production or transport of goods and manpower required for the war, while the 'morale bombing' against cities, was supposed to break resistance and undermine the morale of the population. Necessarily, there was also the acceptance of (ugly word now) 'collateral damage', when taking out a target of military or other importance, civilian casualties were expected. (At the time, bombing was less accurate than it is today, and even now, we get it horribly wrong).
Harris did do what he felt was necessary under the circumstances. That doesn't make him a hero (he wasn't flying the planes, dodging the flak), neither does it make him a villain. Remember, Great Britain had neither started the war, nor the bombing of civilians). Of course, it is always easier to judge with the gift of hindsight. Retrospectively, the bombing of towns did not affect morale of the German people as much as the Allieds had hoped, and in terms of taking out industries, in 1944 (when bombing was on its climax), Germany reached the highest production figures for war planes.
By the way, nowadays, there's a special town partnership between Coventry and Dresden.

Answer 2

A lot of senior British politicians were very uncomfortable about bombing Germany as it was the kind of shabby behaviour that those Gerries were all about. But it was a question of morale. We had no blitz spirit in this country. That concept was propaganda for the morale of Brits, in reality people were simply terrified. To allow these German raids with no equal response would have given the Germans a huge psychological advantage.
It was the right decision. But many non-combatants were, of course, killed.

I think you could extend this concept and ask how valid the A-Bomb attacks were in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Answer 3

Civilians are casualties of all modern wars. If generals are seen as heroes it should be because their tactical genius shortened the length of wars rather than because of the people who died during them.

The bombing of Dresden was horrific. So were many other episodes of WWII on all sides. I do not think any general is a hero. But if Dresden encouraged the Nazis to surrender then Bomber Harris was doing what his country asked him to do.

Answer 4

How can anyone that kills be a hero? How can one kills innocent people? What makes one Innocent? Sir Arthur Harris defended his country in a very difficult time in history. I do not believe that he enjoyed what he did but he defend England, and beat the Germans. Bad people are not the only ones to die in war, and in real life one can not always shoot the guns out of the bad guys hands. And trying to find an innocent German was hard to do back then. Sir Arthur Harris did what had to be done to bring about an end to WWII.

Answer 5

He did not. He gave an order and that was as part of Britains defence against the mass murdering of British civilians by the Germans in the same way the Atomic bombs were used to stop the mass murdering by the Japanese.

Funny how a defender gets labled but not the agressor. I suppose you will be blaming the Jews for the holocaust next!

Answer 6

Night bombing is inaccurate but daytime losses would have bankrupted the Brits within a few months. He used incendiaries which caused massive fires but got the critical targets. German submarines also killed innocents as did the bombing raids of Japan in 44 & 45. If you are doing a biblical thing here be sure to read the story of Joshua and Jerico and the aftermath, Bunky. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Answer 7

In war the innocent suffer alongside the guilty. The Natzis brought on this action. We have to be careful how we use language. A quick change of defense for murder sheds an entirely different light on things.

Answer 8

Do you honestly believe that if Bomber Harris was doing something that bad he would have got away with it?
Don't forget Churchill, his boss, kept a very close eye on the conduct of the war.
If anything it was Churchill to blame and he is a hero, isn't he?

Answer 9

It was NOT unjustified. It helped destroy the morale of Nazi Germany, thereby bring the end of the war closer and saving countless lives. The responsibility for the casualties at Dresden etc, lies with the Nazi regime.

Answer 10

I think you will find in a "total war" or "supreme emergency" anything is justified, including the flattening of whole cities.

Our Soverignty was at stake, Europe had fallen and we were alone fighting a far superior force. The idea was to break the wil of the german people to continue to fight. But studies have shown that targeting of civilians only serves to increase the resolve of the people.