tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post2703446266366296915..comments2024-03-26T11:27:35.814-07:00Comments on Tom Stephenson: Dark dawnUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-82407264260181690622015-11-09T02:00:49.265-08:002015-11-09T02:00:49.265-08:00Maybe we just wanted to break a lot of fine bone c...Maybe we just wanted to break a lot of fine bone china? I know a lot of antique-dealers who think it was a crime.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-20432654208286631402015-11-09T01:52:18.135-08:002015-11-09T01:52:18.135-08:00Dresden had a lot of important war making equipmen...Dresden had a lot of important war making equipment factories, sorry to be a bit vague, can't recall exact description, very hidden away, and i believe this is why we bombed Dresden. It was not a war crime.Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-71721024354083537582015-11-09T01:46:07.252-08:002015-11-09T01:46:07.252-08:00Is that why nobody ever made records of civilian d...Is that why nobody ever made records of civilian deaths in the Iraq war?Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-87291976014656387002015-11-09T01:41:33.622-08:002015-11-09T01:41:33.622-08:00I believe that only the top brass of both sides kn...I believe that only the top brass of both sides knew the extent of the horrors of the concentration camps before the eventual photographed liberation, aside from a handful of local neighbours who pretended not to notice.<br /><br />As with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was also an element of experimentation to see what fire-storms actually did.<br /><br />In the minds of the very few people who gave the orders for both, they were probably seen as justified in the knowledge of the 6 million+ exterminated by the Nazis, and the severe and inhumane treatment of POWs in Japan and on the Burmese railway.<br /><br />I don't think that you can belatedly call these things war-crimes with the benefit of hindsight - they didn't know what was going to happen when you encourage scientists to develop weaponry which has never been tried before.<br /><br />No lies were told to justify the WW2 bombings, unlike the war in Iraq.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-3617583544746196972015-11-09T00:49:37.762-08:002015-11-09T00:49:37.762-08:00I think that more of a comparison can be drawn as ...I think that more of a comparison can be drawn as Coventry was a legitimate military target, whereas Dresden was bombed because of it's dense civilian population to lower German morale. There will always be civilian collateral damage in bombing, but they should never be the main target. It was a war crime.Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08255717931620460104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-49490667593013505222015-11-08T20:52:30.708-08:002015-11-08T20:52:30.708-08:00I suppose the comparison of numbers must say '...I suppose the comparison of numbers must say 'Don't mess with us, unless you're prepared for some response', and also 'Don't go around, starting wars'.Cro Magnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06840670227576695352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-16389606290243444082015-11-08T08:56:34.574-08:002015-11-08T08:56:34.574-08:00It must have been very strange for them to have co...It must have been very strange for them to have come out of that bunker the next morning.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-56184021956757782932015-11-08T08:54:18.815-08:002015-11-08T08:54:18.815-08:00I know it's not a competition, but 568 people ...I know it's not a competition, but 568 people were killed in the Coventry firestorm raid. 25,000 were killed in Dresden in the RAF's firestorm raid - both raids in one night.<br /><br />Now I would call this overkill, and it has been discussed many times since WW2, the main topic being whether or not it shortened the war to any great extent.<br /><br />I am not putting any values onto this, other than numerical ones. If the British government have left it until 70 years after the war finished to put up a memorial to Bomber Command, then at least they must have had some misgivings about Churchill and Harris's orders.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-46847157038097241752015-11-08T08:26:01.776-08:002015-11-08T08:26:01.776-08:00Taken personally? So was the bombing of Coventry.Taken personally? So was the bombing of Coventry.Cro Magnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06840670227576695352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-12345182329856630932015-11-08T06:46:02.981-08:002015-11-08T06:46:02.981-08:00I read Kurt Vonnegut's letters home the other ...I read Kurt Vonnegut's letters home the other day written when he was in Dresden. Should be compulsory reading for all young people today.Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-30714922974977828612015-11-08T06:18:48.771-08:002015-11-08T06:18:48.771-08:00Thankfully, my father had been shot down before Dr...Thankfully, my father had been shot down before Dresden, so had no direct part in it. 'Thankfully' sounds a bit of a strange thing to say.Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-76086223473913132642015-11-08T06:15:30.085-08:002015-11-08T06:15:30.085-08:00My mother was having a baby on the night of the Dr...My mother was having a baby on the night of the Dresden bombing. I only discovered it the other day, she never said. I found it a very sobering discovery in a funny sort of way.Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-55666900538775757272015-11-08T06:07:47.791-08:002015-11-08T06:07:47.791-08:00Thanks for that. Not the drink? I must drink becau...Thanks for that. Not the drink? I must drink because I am desperately lonely then, not the other way round. (Joking).Tom Stephensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979590950587415840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2505385214324438018.post-34166859623639600472015-11-08T05:56:46.992-08:002015-11-08T05:56:46.992-08:00I cant imagine you waking up feeling desperately t...I cant imagine you waking up feeling desperately tearfully lonely in the night. Sorry about that is all I can say (and I do mean it). I cant say it ever happens to me regardless of how much or how little I have had to drink.Rachel Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16053924416805878169noreply@blogger.com