Arthur Harris
Croix de guerre (France)
South African Marine Corporation |
---|
Born in
, and elsewhere.At the outbreak of the
After the war Harris moved to South Africa, where he managed the South African Marine Corporation. He was created a baronet in 1953. He died in England in 1984.
Early life
Harris was born on 13 April 1892, at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, where his parents were staying while his father George Steel Travers Harris, a government engineer in India, was on home leave.[2] With his father in India most of the time, Harris grew up without a sense of solid roots and belonging; he spent much of his later childhood with the family of a Kent rector, the Reverend C E Graham-Jones, whom he later recalled fondly.[3] Harris was educated at Allhallows School in Devon, while his two elder brothers were educated at the more prestigious Sherborne and Eton, respectively; according to biographer Henry Probert, this was because Sherborne and Eton were expensive and "there was not much money left for number three".[4]
A former Allhallows student, the actor Arthur Chudleigh, often visited the school and gave the boys free tickets to his shows. Harris received such a ticket in 1909, and went to see the play during his summer holidays. The lead character in the show was a Rhodesian farmer who returned to England to marry, but ultimately fell out with his pompous fiancée and married the more practical housemaid instead. The idea of a country where one was judged on ability rather than class was very inspiring to the adventurous Harris, who promptly told his father (who had just retired and returned to England) that he intended to emigrate to Southern Rhodesia instead of going back to Allhallows for the new term. Harris's father was disappointed, having had in mind a military or civil service career for his son, but reluctantly agreed.[5]
In early 1910, Harris senior paid his son's passage on the SS Inanda to
Military career
First World War
When the First World War broke out in August 1914, Harris did not learn of it for nearly a month, being out in the bush at the time. Despite his previous reluctance to follow the path his father had had in mind for him in the army, and his desire to set up his own ranch in Rhodesia, Harris felt patriotically compelled to join the
The 1st Rhodesia Regiment briefly garrisoned
When the South-West African Campaign ended in July 1915, the 1st Rhodesia Regiment was withdrawn to
Harris learned to fly at Brooklands in late 1915 and, having been confirmed in his rank,[13] then went on to serve with distinction on the home front and in France during 1917 as a flight commander and ultimately CO of No. 45 Squadron, flying the Sopwith 1½ Strutter and Sopwith Camel. Before he returned to Britain to command No. 44 Squadron on Home Defence duties, Harris claimed five enemy aircraft destroyed and was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) on 2 November 1918.[14][15] Intending to return to Rhodesia one day, Harris wore a "rhodesia" shoulder flash on his uniform.[16] He finished the war a major.[17][15]
Inter-war years
Harris remained in the newly formed
During the 1920s Harris occasionally doubted his decision to remain with the RAF rather than going back to Rhodesia; he submitted his resignation in May 1922, but was persuaded to stay.
From 1927 to 1929, Harris attended the
His next command was of a
On 2 July 1937 Harris was promoted to air commodore[31] and in 1938 he was put in command of No. 4 (Bomber) Group. After a purchasing mission to the United States he was posted to Palestine and Trans-Jordan, where he became Officer Commanding the RAF contingent in that area with promotion to air vice-marshal on 1 July 1939.[32]
In this period Harris, and others, pressured senior staff for large strategic bombers, which could bomb German targets from England. This resulted in specifications from the Air Staff which led to the Avro Manchester, Handley Page Halifax and Short Stirling. Later, after severe shortcomings were displayed on operations, the Manchester was redesigned to become the very effective Avro Lancaster.[33]
Second World War
Harris returned to Britain in September 1939 to take command of No. 5 Group.[34] Appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 11 July 1940[35] he was made Deputy Chief of the Air Staff in November 1940 and promoted to the acting rank of air marshal on 1 June 1941.[36]
The
In 1942,
At the start of the bombing campaign, Harris said, quoting
At first the effects were limited because of the small numbers of aircraft used and the lack of navigational aids, resulting in scattered, inaccurate bombing. As production of better aircraft and electronic aids increased, Harris pressed for raids on a much larger scale, each to use 1,000 aeroplanes. In
Harris was just one of an influential group of high-ranking Allied air commanders who continued to believe that massive and sustained area bombing alone would force Germany to surrender. On a number of occasions he wrote to his superiors claiming the war would be over in a matter of months, first in August 1943 following the tremendous success of the Battle of Hamburg (codenamed
The aim of the Combined Bomber Offensive ... should be unambiguously stated [as] the destruction of German cities, the killing of German workers, and the disruption of civilised life throughout Germany ... the destruction of houses, public utilities, transport and lives, the creation of a refugee problem on an unprecedented scale, and the breakdown of morale both at home and at the battle fronts by fear of extended and intensified bombing, are accepted and intended aims of our bombing policy. They are not by-products of attempts to hit factories.[47][48][49]
Many senior
Harris was promoted to the substantive rank of air marshal on 1 January 1944
Before the
After D-Day (6 June 1944), with the resumption of the strategic bomber campaign over Germany, Harris remained wedded to area bombardment. The historian Frederick Taylor argues that, because Harris lacked the necessary security clearance to know about Ultra, he had been given some information gleaned from Enigma but not informed of the source. According to Taylor, this directly affected Harris's attitude concerning the effectiveness of the post-D-Day 1944 directives (orders) to target oil installations, as Harris did not know the Allied High Command was using high-level German sources to assess exactly how much Allied operations were impairing the German war effort. Harris tended to see the directives to bomb specific oil and munitions targets as a high level command "panacea" (his word) and a distraction from the real task of making the rubble bounce in every large German city.[56] Harris was promoted to the substantive rank of air chief marshal on 16 August 1944.[57]
The historian Bernard Wasserstein notes that the official history of British strategic bombing says, in what Wasserstein describes as 'an unusually sharp personal observation', that "Harris made a habit of seeing only one side of a question and then of exaggerating it. He had a tendency to confuse advice with interference, criticism with sabotage and evidence with propaganda".[46][58] Alfred C. Mierzejewski argues that area bombing and attacks against fuel plants were ineffective against Germany's coal- and rail-based economy and that the bombing campaign only took a decisive turn in late 1944, when the allies switched to attacking railway-marshalling yards for the coal gateways of the Ruhr.[59] His summation is rejected by Sebastian Cox head of the Air Historical Branch (AHB). Cox notes that half of the oil was produced by Benzol plants located in the Ruhr. These areas were the primary target of Bomber Command in 1943 and the autumn of 1944. Cox concludes that the targets were highly vulnerable to area attacks and suffered accordingly.[60] The American official history notes that Harris was ordered to cease attacks on oil in November 1944, as the combined bombing had been so effective that none of the synthetic plants were operating effectively. The American history also includes information from Albert Speer, in which he points out that Bomber Command's night attacks were the most effective.[61] Harris was very encouraging of innovation but he resisted the creation of the Pathfinder Force and the development of precision strikes which had proven so effective in the Dambusters' raid.[62]
Harris was awarded the American
In his postwar memoirs Harris wrote, "In spite of all that happened at Hamburg, bombing proved a relatively humane method".[67] His wartime views were expressed in an internal secret memo to the Air Ministry after the Dresden raid in February 1945
I ... assume that the view under consideration is something like this: no doubt in the past we were justified in attacking German cities. But to do so was always repugnant and now that the Germans are beaten anyway we can properly abstain from proceeding with these attacks. This is a doctrine to which I could never subscribe. Attacks on cities like any other act of war are intolerable unless they are strategically justified. But they are strategically justified in so far as they tend to shorten the war and preserve the lives of Allied soldiers. To my mind we have absolutely no right to give them up unless it is certain that they will not have this effect. I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier.[67][68][b]
Whenever the bombing campaign of World War II is considered it must be appreciated that the war was an "integrated process". As an example, quoting
Post-war era
At the war's conclusion, Harris was given various decorations. He was awarded the Polish Order of Polonia Restituta First Class on 12 June 1945,[70] advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 14 June 1945[71] and appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Southern Cross of Brazil on 13 November 1945.[72] He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the United States on 14 June 1946[73] and promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 1 January 1946.[74]
Within the postwar British government there was some disquiet about the level of destruction that had been created by the area-bombing of German cities towards the end of the war. Harris retired on 15 September 1946 and wrote his story of Bomber Command's achievements in Bomber Offensive. In this book he wrote, concerning Dresden, "I know that the destruction of so large and splendid a city at this late stage of the war was considered unnecessary even by a good many people who admit that our earlier attacks were as fully justified as any other operation of war. Here I will only say that the attack on Dresden was at the time considered a military necessity by much more important people than myself."[75] Bomber Command's crews were denied a separate campaign medal - as they were already eligible for both the Air Crew Europe Star and France and Germany Star) - and, in protest at this perceived establishment snub to his men, Harris refused a peerage in 1946; he was the sole commander-in-chief not to become a peer.[76]
Disappointed to have missed the opportunity to return to Southern Rhodesia as governor because of the war, Harris wrote to Huggins in June 1945 that he would like to be considered if the office were ever open again, and that he would be interested in other Southern Rhodesian government appointments relating to aviation or perhaps entering politics there. "If I have deserved anything of my country—Rhodesia—it would delight me to have opportunity to serve her further," he wrote.
In February 1953 Winston Churchill, now prime minister again, insisted that Harris accept a
In 1974 Harris appeared in the acclaimed documentary series
Awards
- Order of the Bath (Knight/Dame Grand Cross) (GCB) (Great Britain) [c]
- Order of the British Empire (Officer) (OBE) (Great Britain) [d]
- Air Force Cross (United Kingdom) (AFC) (Great Britain) [e]
- War Medal 1939 – 1945 (Mentioned in Dispatches) (MID) (South Africa) x 2
- Order of Suvorov, 1st Class (USSR)[f]
- US DSM (Army type)[g]
- Legion of Merit (Chief Commander) (LOM) (USA) [h]
- Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)[i]
- National Order of the Southern Cross (Grand Cross) [j] (Brazil) [k]
- Legion of Honour (Grand Officer) [l] (France) [m]
- Croix de guerre 1939–1945 (Étoile en bronze - Bronze star) (France) [n]
Family
Harris married Barbara Daisy Kyrle Money, daughter of Lieutenant Ernle William K. Money, and his wife Alexandra Gruinard Battye, in August 1916. The marriage produced three children: Anthony, Marigold and Rosemary. Harris divorced his first wife in 1935 and subsequently met Therese ('Jillie') Hearne, then twenty, through a mutual friend, and they married in 1938.[85] Their daughter Jacqueline Jill was born in 1939; Harris is said to have "adored" her.[86] She later married the Hon. Nicholas Assheton, CVO, treasurer to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1998 to her death in 2002,[87] younger son of Ralph Assheton, 1st Baron Clitheroe.[88][89]
Legacy
Harris died on 5 April 1984, at his home in Goring.[90] He is buried in Burntwood Cemetery at Goring.[91]
In 1989, five years after Harris's death, a one-off feature-length drama about Harris's tenure as AOC-in-C of Bomber Command was broadcast under the title
Despite protests from figures within Germany, with the mayor of Dresden visiting the British embassy to state his opposition,[93] the Bomber Harris Trust, an RAF veterans' organisation formed to defend the reputation of their former commander, erected a statue of him outside the RAF Church of St Clement Danes, London, in 1992. It was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother who looked surprised when she was jeered at by protesters, one of whom shouted, "Harris was a war criminal." No member of the cabinet attended the unveiling.[94] An inscription on the statue reads: "The Nation owes them all an immense debt." Many ex-Bomber Command aircrew were present, including Leonard Cheshire who attended against the advice of his doctors, saying "I would have gone even if I had to be carried on a stretcher", and died two months later.[95] The statue had to be kept under 24-hour guard for a period of months as it was often vandalised.[96][97]
Explanatory notes
- ^ The RAF Aircrew's nickname for Harris, "Butcher" or "Butch", was not bestowed as a comment on the morality of his bombing policy. It referred to his seeming indifference to the losses his aircrew were suffering. The losses were staggering: a crew member on a British bomber had a shorter life expectancy than an infantryman in the trenches of the First World War.[1]
- ^ The phrase "worth the bones of one British grenadier" was a deliberate echo of a famous sentence used by German Chancellor Bismarck "The whole of the Balkans is not worth the bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier".[68]
- ^ Awarded 14 June 1945[71]
- ^ Awarded 3 June 1927[25]
- ^ Awarded 2 November 1918[14][15]
- ^ Awarded 29 February 1944[53]
- ^ Awarded 14 June 1946[73]
- ^ Awarded 30 January 1945[63]
- ^ Awarded 12 June 1945[70]
- ^ Portuguese: Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul – Grã-Cruz
- ^ Awarded 13 November 1945[72]
- ^ French: Légion d'honneur - Grand-officier
- ^ Awarded 1945[82][83]
- ^ Awarded 1945[83][84]
Citations
- ^ Havers 2003, p. 69. See also Ben Macintyre's review of Richard Overy, The Bombers and the Bombed: Allied Air War Over Europe, 1940–1945 (2014), in The New York Times Book Review, 23 March 2014, p. 16.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 23.
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 26–28.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 24.
- ^ a b Probert 2006, pp. 27–30.
- ^ Longmate 1983, p. 138.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 31.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 32.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 33.
- ^ a b Probert 2006, p. 35.
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 35–36.
- ^ "No. 29399". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 December 1915. p. 12410.
- ^ "No. 29470". The London Gazette. 11 February 1916. p. 1591.
- ^ a b Shores 1990, p. 185.
- ^ a b c "No. 30989". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 November 1918. p. 12958.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 43.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 46.
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 45–46.
- ^ "The bombing of Waziristan". Air and Space. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
- ^ Probert, in chapter 'Carving a career'
- ^ a b c d Longmate 1983, p. 139.
- ^ Corum and Wray 2003, p. 65
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 49–50.
- ^ "The 1920s British air bombing campaign in Iraq – BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
- ^ a b "No. 33280". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 May 1927. p. 3611.
- ^ "No. 33290". The London Gazette. 1 July 1927. p. 4240.
- ^ Harris 2005, p. 24.
- ^ "No. 33955". The London Gazette. 30 June 1933. p. 4386.
- ^ Gilmour, Ian and Andrew. "Terrorism Review". Journal of Palestine Studies, Volume 17, Issue 2, 1988, p. 131.
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 72–74.
- ^ "No. 34414". The London Gazette. 2 July 1937. p. 4253.
- ^ "No. 34641". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 June 1939. p. 4452.
- ^ Saward 1990, p47
- ^ Longmate 1983, p. 140.
- ^ "No. 34893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 July 1940. p. 4245.
- ^ "No. 35183". The London Gazette. 6 June 1941. p. 3231.
- ^ Longmate 1983, p. 121.
- ^ Longmate 1983, pp. 138, 140.
- ^ "No. 35586". The London Gazette (Supplement). 5 June 1942. p. 2478.
- ^ "Blitzed by guidebook". BBC News. 27 March 2002. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ Hosea 8:7 King James Version
- ^ Harris 2005, p. 52.
- ^ "The Thousand Bomber raids, 30/31 May (Cologne) to 17 August 1942". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ "No. 35813". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 December 1942. p. 5338.
- ^ "No. 35958". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 March 1943. p. 1468.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-873074-3.
- ^ Denson 1999, p. 352.
- ^ Garret 1993, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Sokolski 2004, p. 36.
- ^ Longmate 1983, p.137.
- ^ Hastings 1979, p. 261
- ^ "No. 36314". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 89.
- ^ a b c "No. 36401". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 February 1944. p. 1010.
- ^ a b c Probert 2006, p. 358.
- ^ Pogue 1954, p. 273.
- ^ Taylor 2004, p. 202.
- ^ "No. 36674". The London Gazette (Supplement). 25 August 1944. p. 3995.
- ^ Webster, Sir Charles; Frankland, Noble (1961). The Strategic Air Offensive against Germany, 1939–1945. Vol. IV. London. pp. 135–137.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Mierzejewski 1988, p. 47
- ^ Cox, Sebastian. "Sir Arthur Harris and some myths and controversies of the bomber offensive, Journal 47" (PDF). RAF Historical Society. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
- ^ Grey 2003, p. 166
- ^ Bishop 2007, p. 340
- ^ a b "No. 36915". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 January 1945. p. 640.
- ^ Neutzner 2003, p. 70
- ^ McInnis 1946, p. 115
- ^ Bamford 1996, p. 143
- ^ a b Grayling 2006, p. 215
- ^ a b Taylor 2004, p. 432.
- ^ Speer 2009, p. 381
- ^ a b "No. 37125". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 June 1948. p. 3084.
- ^ a b "No. 37119". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1945. p. 2936.
- ^ a b "No. 37347". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1945. p. 5534.
- ^ a b "No. 37610". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1946. p. 3007.
- ^ "No. 37414". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1945. p. 187.
- The National Archives. p. 242. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 346–351.
- ^ Probert 2006, pp. 364–372.
- ^ "No. 39777". The London Gazette. 13 February 1953. p. 906.
- ^ Probert 2006, p. 374.
- ^ Peden 2003, p. 484
- ^ "Whirlwind: Bombing Germany (September 1939 – April 1944)". British Film Institute, 1974.
- ^ "Grand Officier de l' Ordre National de la Legion d'Honneur". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ a b "Harris, Arthur Travers "Bomber"". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Croix de Guerre (1939-1945)". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ Saward 1990, p. 48
- ^ Saward 1990, p. 202
- ^ "Nicholas Assheton". The Telegraph. 6 January 2013. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 828
- ^ "Therese (née Hearne), Lady Harris; Jacqueline Jill Assheton (née Harris)". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "Grave Sir Arthur Harris - Goring - TracesOfWar.com". tracesofwar.com.
- ^ "Bomber Harris". British Film Institute. 1989. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ^ Kezwer, Gil. "Dresden protests statue of "Bomber" Harris". Peace Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-230-70942-3.
- ^ Morris (2000). Cheshire. p. 427.
- ^ "Harris Statue". UK Attraction. Archived from the original on 1 November 2005. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
- ^ "Harris Statue". History Learning Site. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
General references
- Bamford, Joe (1996). The Salford Lancaster. Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-0850525199.
- Bishop, Patrick (2007). Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940–1945. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0007192151.
- ISBN 978-0700612406.
- Cross, Robin (1995). Fallen Eagle. London: John Wiley and Sons Inc. ISBN 0-471-62079-3.
- Denson, John V (1999). The Costs of War: America's Pyrrhic Victories. Piscataway, New Jersey: ISBN 0-7658-0487-5.
- Garret, Stephen A (1993). Ethics and Air Power in World War II: The British Bombing of German Cities. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-08683-0.
- ISBN 0-8027-1471-4.
- Grey, Peter (2003). The Last Word? Essays on Official History in the United States and British Commonwealth. Praeger, London. ISBN 0-313-31083-1.
- Harris, Sir Arthur (2005). Bomber Offensive. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-84415-210-3.
- ISBN 978-0-8037-0154-0.
- Havers, Robin (2003). The Second World War: Europe, 1939–1943, Volume 4. Abingdon, Oxford, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-96846-1.
- ISBN 0-09-151580-7.
- McInnis, Edgar (1946). The War, The Sixth Year. Oxford University Press.
- Mierzejewski, Alfred C (1988). The Collapse of the German War Economy, 1944–1945: Allied Air Power and the German National Railway. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-1792-9.
- Neutzner, Matthias (2003). Dresden 1944/45: Leben im Bombenkrieg. Verlag Der Kunst. ISBN 978-3865300300.
- ISBN 978-0670025152.)
- Peden, Murray (2003). A Thousand Shall Fall: The True Story of a Canadian Bomber Pilot in World War Two. Dundurn Group. ISBN 978-1550024548.
- Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the United States Army.
- ISBN 1-85367-555-5.
- Saward, Dudley (1990). Bomber Harris: The Authorized Biography. New York: Time-Warner Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0-72217-658-0.
- Shores, Christopher (1990). Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces, 1915–1920. London: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-19-4.
- ISBN 1-58487-172-5.
- ISBN 978-1842127353.
- Taylor, Fredrick (2004). Dresden: Tuesday 13 February 1945. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-000676-5.
Further reading
- Bellamy, Alex J. "The ethics of terror bombing: Beyond supreme emergency". Journal of Military Ethics 7.1 (2008): 41–65. On the British decision to bomb Germany.
- Bevan, Robert (2006). The Destruction of Memory: Architecture at War. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-319-2.
- Goulter, Christina. "Sir Arthur Harris: Different Perspectives". In Gary Sheffield, ed. The Challenges of High Command: The British Experience (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2003) 126–136.
- Lambourne, Nicola (2001). War Damage in Western Europe: The Destruction of Historic Monuments During the Second World War. Edinburgh UP. ISBN 0-7486-1285-8.
- Messenger, Charles. Bomber Harris and the Strategie Bombing Offensive: 1939-1945 (Arms and Armour Press, 1984).
- Neillands, Robin. "Facts and myths about Bomber Harris". The RUSI Journal 146.2 (2001): 69–73.
- Quast, Lou, and David Lee. "Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris: An effective leader in command?" Archived 25 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine (UK Dept of Defence, Geddes Papers 2004)
External links
- Biography at Spartacus Educational
- Personality Profile: Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris
- Royal Air Force Bomber Command 60th Anniversary, Commanders
- The Destruction of Dresden – Die Zerstörung Dresdens
- Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – MRAF Harris
- Imperial War Museum Interview from 1977
- Imperial War Museum Interview from 1978
- RAF Interview from 1977
- Newspaper clippings about Arthur Harris in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW