Q of the Week - Dresden

[Luddite]

Im proud to be British - that much so that I served my country for 23 years!!

Where did you serve?

[Ben Waterhouse]

Let's not get personal dudes!

Pax Vobiscum

[Hurley]

I've tried being nice to this gentlemen and I've tried to stay away from using anything but facts and personal opinions. He seems to have some sort of problem with me.


Hurley 

[Leon]

Let's all have a beer, agree to disagree, and get back to painting!

[17-21l]

 Agreed - lets have a beer - i havent got a problem with you at all - I just beleave that people, in general, should think before typing. Your first comment on this topic just bewildered me that someone could think such a thing - hey maybe its just me ?
In regards where Ive served -Germany, Cyprus, Canada, Bosnia , UK, even got to Gib at one point, all the good postings that A Royal Armoured Corps soldier got sent in them there days.
I agree to disagree,  this debate is now at an end, it is a dead debate,

God save the Queen

[Patrick R]

I rank Dresden as a needless tragedy.  Britain (and the Americans) still believed that strategic bombing and flattening cities was a viable strategy to end the war.  The mistaken belief that civilians remaining steady under fire was a uniquely British trait and the Germans were on the verge of revolt and hanging old Hitler for letting him bomb their cities is still believed to this day.

On the other hand there are people who seem to think that because the Allies were "the good guys" they should be blameless and therefore Dresden becomes a war crime.  Not to mention the naziphiles who will feel that Dresden makes up for all the horribly nasty things Hitler and his gang of thugs perpetrated.

Dresden was largely unnecessary.  The only reason why it was picked was because was an attempt by Bomber Command to show that it wasn't useless by this stage of the war and that it could still win major victories (destroying cities) right up to the end.  Dresden was a part of Germany that hadn't been heavily bombed before and it was now in easy range of the bombers.  In a nutshell, BC was still trying to make its mark and showing it was still capable of doing business.