Absolutely. My Grandfather was a participant & witness to this war crime as RCAF Lancaster Bomber Command crew.

He was angry distortions from wartime propaganda became the way 'history' was told in Canada. He viewed it as a crime because we burned alive & suffocated civilians. https://twitter.com/solutions_covid/status/1315525930291523586
It's still a controversial way to view Dresden, especially because neo-nazis and Holocaust Deniers also argue it was a war crime.

But it is absurd to suggest that somehow means the suffocating and burning alive of 25,000 human beings can even be remotely rationalized.
There were no rules of war consistently observed by both sides, except maybe Christmas cease-fires.

For the record, my grandmother was ex WAAF and bitterly defended Bomber Command.

She passionately and angrily argued to me the Blitz meant "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth".
She lost her brother - one of just 2 siblings of a big family she was close to and loved, her best friend - when he was shot down during Battle of Britain. She felt the horrors of the Blitz as German bombers thundered over her small village every night on their approach to London
She felt the terror of the "buzz bomb".

It was wildly inaccurate and not very effective at all with hitting targets but the distinctive terrifying sound it made mentally tortured the British population.

That sound haunted her for life. She talked about it often.
So, my grandmother had a very different perspective from my grandfather.

Her brother was killed.

Her home, her people, were subjected to terrors on a mass level as targets of war, mechanized mass destruction for a sustained period. Nothing quite like this happenened before.
🔴London was bombed from the air every single day...57 days and nights in a row during the London Blitz.

🔴 The UK was bombed every single night in a row for 8 months.

The terror was unceasing. We can't even begin to comprehend what that was like for every Briton.
As a Canadian sent to the UK to fight, my grandfather couldn't possibly comprehend either. While he disagreed, he respected her feelings as valid.

Just like her the vast majority of Britons hungered for revenge.

Bloodthirsty bc they were trauma victims of severe horrors.
The Blitz made Britons crazy. But not the type of crazy the nazis planned for.

So we cannot sit here and claim we would have felt differently or taken a different position if we suffered the same circumstances.

Severe trauma and horror breaks human minds.

And evil begets evil
Brits like my grandmother blamed the German people. And always would. She wanted them to suffer the worst horrors. She unapologetically defended that position.

There was no convincing her.

The rage she and other war brides in Canada felt for Brian McKenna was *extreme*.
People today would have hungered for revenge exactly as they did.

We would have cheered Bomber Command, and probably defended "Bomber Harris" in our old age, just like they did.

Of that there can be little doubt.
That doesn't make them bad people. I defend my grandmother, that whole generation's feelings as valid. Strongly!

I know where it came from because she shared her traumas in detail with me.

They were incapable of being a sound, balanced, moral mind on this question. 👇
But I also support taking down this statue. I support the continued efforts of protesters.

*Because Harris was a war criminal.* Leaders privileged with power in times of mass crisis & emergency must lead toward the light. Never more evil. They must always be held accountable.
Victims are not allowed to be judge, jury and executioner.

We can excuse the feelings of that generation of Britons bc extreme traumas distort.

But these victims were powerless.

Sir Arthur Harris was not.

Leaders like him had a choice. They had the power. No one else did.
We must trust leaders to know they ought to choose right over wrong. When they fail *they are guilty in their time and our time*.

Because as humans, certain basic universal human rights are knowable and understood even if they are not coded or written down in the time period.
Otherwise, how did my Grandfather know it was wrong?

(Fin)
PS: I know my Grandfather despite only getting a chance to meet him a few times bc he discussed these issues in depth (usually over more than a few beers👇) with his best friend who was close to me, and with my Dad and Uncle. They made a point of my generation knowing his opinons
PPS: there are a few lessons for pandemic here if you give it a good think.

It's always a good idea in the middle of an emergency and news tsunami to HIT PAUSE. Step away.

And think about stories and other times, what, how and why things happened as they did.
You can follow @Mikeggibbs.
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