A few thoughts before I disappear back to AGW.
"War is all cruelty, and there is no use in trying to reform it; the crueller it is, the sooner it is ended. War is Hell." W.T. Sherman, 1865
"It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of the deed could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievment, and at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
His place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt, 1898
We must make war as we must; not as we would like.
Field Marshal Kitchener, 1915
All of the above are quoted in "The Bomber War" by Robin Neillands, which examines the military and moral aspects regarding Arthur Harris and the Allied bomber offensive. Highly recommended if one has a serious interest in the facts and issues, rather than just an interest in a shouting match.
Two minutes searching on Google found the indictments against the defendents at Nuremberg.
Part of the indictments against Goering et al included the following:
"in that the defendants planned, prepared, initiated, and waged wars of aggression, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances."
"including as typical and systematic means by which the wars were prosecuted, murder, ill-treatment, deportation for slave labor and for other purposes of civilian populations of occupied territories"
"Throughout the period of their occupation of territories overrun by their armed forces the defendants, for the purpose of systematically terrorizing the inhabitants, murdered and tortured civilians, and ill-treated them, and imprisoned them without legal process."
"The murders and ill-treatment were carried out by divers means, including shooting, hanging, gassing, starvation, gross overcrowding, systematic under-nutrition, systematic imposition of labor tasks beyond the strength of those ordered to carry them out, inadequate provision of surgical and medical services, kickings, beatings, brutality and torture of all kinds, including the use of hot irons and pulling out of fingernails and the performance of experiments by means of operations and otherwise on living human subjects. In some occupied territories the defendants interfered in religious matters, persecuted members of the clergy and monastic orders, and expropriated church property. They conducted deliberate and systematic genocide, viz., the extermination of racial and national groups, against the civilian populations of certain occupied territories in order to destroy particular races and classes of people and national, racial, or religious groups, particularly Jews, Poles, and Gypsies and others."
"Such murder and ill-treatment took place in concentration camps and similar establishments set up by the defendants, and particularly in the concentration camps set up at Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau, Breendonck, Grini, Natzweiler, Ravensbruck, Vught, and Amersfoort, and in numerous cities, towns, and villages, including Oradour-sur-Glane, Trondheim, and Oslo."
Area bombing appears to have been the least of Goerings worries.
R4M, I presume that this is why Harris and Le May were not on trial.
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In service before 1944?
No jet engines?
A sitting duck?
The Ju-87 in AH? Naaaaahh
Off back to WB to fly a Stuka.
Cya all. <S>
