[George Hopp]

Thank you, Smudger and Juha, for your considered and valuable comments on my posting. First, Smudger, I do think it would be more accurate to say, "I have never read such rubbish;" rather than, "I have never heard such rubbish." But, that’s only my opinion. And, thank you also for being so objective and rational, it’s such a welcome relief from the crazies who sometimes pop out of the woodwork in these threads.

I am a bit confused as to why I should consider myself naïve about the accomplishments of Bomber Command just because one of its groups happened to come from Canada. Incidently, from a Canadian who served in one of the other Bomber Command groups: while 6 Group may have had a good record in the air, on the ground the aircrew were generally considered to be a bunch of "loud-mouthed, beer-swilling louts." But, I guess they wouldn’t be unique in that.

You are totally accurate when you say that, "The contribution of the US 8th & 15th Air Force(s) was without doubt massive and decisive ...." That is exactly what I was saying: The efforts of the USAAF – including the 9th Air Force – were decisive, and were what made D-Day, and an Allied, rather than a Soviet, western Europe possible.

Where we might disagree ever so slightly is the part about "Both (Bomber Command and the USAAF) worked together towards victory, side by side sharing the same dangers." If you read about the politics of Bomber Command, you would see that Bomber Harris was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the idea of using his command against anything but cities, because he felt that other targets were simply too small to be effectively attacked at night. And, you might note also that whenever the opportunity presented itself, he would quickly switch away from other targets to attack another city. So, yes, BC did attack transportation and oil industry targets, but it was certainly not with the heartfelt blessing of the CinC. But, you appear to allude to that very thing when you say that Bomber Command "made mistakes, and should perhaps have changed its bombing policies sooner."

So, really, Smudger, our postings seem to indicate that we are in almost total agreement with each other, only using different words – welcome to the world of the naïve with political stances.

As a postscript, Juha, I feel that the majority of the strategic bombing that took place after the Allied armies were established in France, was superfluous. Since the transportation facilities were being smothered, it really didn’t matter what was produced or refined, because only minute amounts of it would ever reach the fronts.

Thank you again for both your comments.

PPS. For Nifty. In Canada we have one flying Lancaster; and a Halifax is being restored, but whether to flying status I don't know, but don't think so.