On my way to work everyday I pass the statue of Arthur "Bomber" Harris (very near to the Royal Courts of Justice, at the end of Fleet Street) Head of Allied Bomber Command WW2. During the war, his campaign of carpet bombing major conurbations killed 500,000 civilians and injured at least 1,000,000. His attitude is the same as the fanatics that terrorise London today but we glorify him; cast him in bronze and put him on a plinth. Can I start a campaign, or join one that is already going, to have this statue disappeared with as little fan fare as possible and any mentioned of Arthur "butcher" Harris drowned out with the sounds of grumbling in a very British stiff upper lip style.
I hope and trust we will never carpet bomb cities again, but surely we cannot have a hero who did, or is it a case of different times?
21/07/05 @ 16:36