Thread: Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, K.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C.

C-in-C Bomber Command since February 19th 1942 until 1945, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris personally directed all major R.A.F. raids on Germany.

A short passage from his book "Bomber Offensive (pub. Collins, 1947)

"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."


You can download a speech from Sir Arthur Harris here at war44 by Clicking Here

All RAF Bomber Command aircrews were volunteers.

While we remember that fact it is also worth remembering that over 55,500 (55,573) of those brave RAF volunteers were lost. Not counting the men of the USAF "Mighty Eighth" 8th Air Force.

There are some small memorials to the men of Bomber Command; The Bomber Command Memorial in the Airman’s Chapel at Lincoln Cathedral with its stained glass window, part of the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede where the names of over 20,000 airmen who have no known grave are listed and the Statue of Sir Arthur Harris outside St Clement Danes, the RAF Church on The Strand in London.

Bomber Command’s own memorial in London’s Green Park is on schedule to be dedicated in June 2012. More details at the appeal website.

Thanks for the links Brian, and to be honest this is the 1st pictures that i have seen of Lincoln Cathedral. If we are ever to visit Lincoln you can bet a visit to the Cathedral will be on the cards...

Lincolnshire considers itself to be the “Home County” of the RAF.

There were numerous Bomber stations located in the county including RAF Scampton, the base for 617 Squadron for the famous dams raid and now the home station of the Red Arrows.

There are still a number of stations in the county including RAF Cranwell, the Officer Cadet Training College and also RAF Conningsby, the home station of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

It was only fitting that Lincoln Cathedral would recognise the presence and sacrifices of the RAF.