WalterM140 wrote:

The Battle of Berlin was indeed a defeat, that was not the
entirety of the air war over Germany however and its provably
untrue to claim that ai operations over Germany were suspended.

Harris said he could knock Germany out of the war by attacking Berlin. And
yet he stopped attacking Berlin. Why?

If you say that Harris qualified his statement by suggesting that the
Americans must help, then he was just butchering his own men because he knew
that help wasn't coming.. Right?

If you say that Harris thought that Bomber Command could do the job alone, well
then he was wrong.

You don't become a great captain by being wrong.

Harris was not a great captain. The evidence shows that he was incompetent, if
not criminally incompetent.

I'd say the evidence shows he was wrong, but you can be wrong without being
incompetent. Harris believed what he was doing was more effective than it was, but
unfortunately for him the Germans weren't providing BDA for him, and he couldn't
consult the USSBS. That others disagreed with him as to area bombing's
effectiveness is also true, but just because we know they were correct on that
issue NOW doesn't mean that it was obvious at the time. We can say that Harris
stuck with it long after he should of in the face of the evidence, but how many
commanders have been condemned for changing horses in midstream just when they were
on the verge of success? No one can accuse Harris of not adhering to maintenance
of aim. Of course, the same can be said of Haig; there's no one right answer.

Besides, Harris has an out; if you wish to throw around accusations of
incompetence, or rather negligence, you have to look no further than Portal. If he
disagreed with Harris' strategy and tactics and he didn't think that Harris would
properly support new ones if ordered to, it was his responsibility to replace him
with someone else; Harris said as much, in so many words. Portal punted, not
requiring him to change, and not replacing him.

Guy