- Born
- Died
- Birth nameArthur Travers Harris
- Nicknames
- Bomber Harris
- Butch
- Butcher Harris
- Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet, GCB, OBE, AFC (13 April 1892 - 5 April 1984), commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as "Butch" Harris,[a] was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) RAF Bomber Command during the height of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany in the Second World War.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bonitao
- He was awarded the AFC (Air Force Cross) in 1918 for his services to the United Kingdom during World War I.
- He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire for his military services to the Royal Air Force during World War II.
- In 1992 to celebrate his 100th birthday, Queen Mother unveiled a statue of Sir Arthur Travers Harris in Whitehall, London, England. She appeared surprised and upset to be jeered by protesters, one of whom shouted, "Harris was a war criminal." She attempted to give a speech, but it was frequently interrupted by shouts from protesters. The statue had to be guarded for some time after it was repeatedly vandalized.
- Famously stated that the Germans had "reaped the whirlwind" by bombing London, although the RAF actually began bombing German cities four months before the Blitz started.
- Began bombing German cities and towns on 11 May 1940.
- [on Australian Donald Bennet] His technical knowledge and his personal operational ability was altogether exceptional. His courage, both moral and physical, is outstanding and as a technician he is unrivaled. He could not suffer fools gladly, and by his own high standards there were many fools.
- The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naive theory into operation. They have sown the wind, and so they shall reap the whirlwind.
- We can wreck Berlin from end to end if the Americans will come in with us. It will cost us between 400 and 500 planes. It will cost Germany the war.
- There are no words with which I can do justice to the air-crew who fought under my command. There is no parallel in warfare to such courage and determination in the face of danger over so prolonged a period, of danger which at times was so great that scarcely one man in three could expect to survive his tour of thirty operations..... It was, furthermore, the courage of the small hours, of men virtually alone, for at his battle station the airman is virtually alone. It was the courage of men with long-drawn apprehensions of daily "going over the top." They were without exception volunteers, for no man was trained for air-crew with the RAF who did not volunteer for this. such devotion must never be forgotten. It is unforgettable by anyone whose contacts gave them knowledge and understanding of what these young men experienced and faced.
- 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.
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