A fairly safe subject for the RAeS, and hence the RAF Star Chamber whose voice it increasingly is, to tackle. It would perhaps have been more interesting if the subject had been "The RAF Bombing Offensive 1939-45", but rather more divisive of course. Whether Victoria Taylor would be the best person to tackle that one is a moot point. I found this lecture somewhat limiting, full of minutiae but lacking in much of the big picture. Bomber Command's Strategic Offensive was just that and should be judged as a whole on its effect on WWII and the defeat of Germany. The chattering classes are preoccupied with Dresden, the RAF with Chastise. Both ignore the elephant in the room, which is how both operations were merely part of the entire Bombing Campaign. My feeling is that it was a crucial contribution to the British war effort, in particular by denying more munitions and manpower to the Eastern Front that might otherwise have swung things to Germany's advantage. The smooth talking Speer likened it to a separate front existing long before D-Day.
I would hasten to add that this form of remote lecture (crowd casting?) is particularly challenging and must be somewhat unnerving to deliver from one's own home to a remote audience, so well done Victoria Taylor for accepting the challenge, and perhaps on reflection a reasonably 'safe' subject was understandable in the circumstances! I will admit to a certain amount of hackle raising though when she repeatedly characterised Harris as obstinate. He had a job to do and people to lead. He did both against the opposition of the chattering classes who would have had us under the Nazi yoke if they had had their way.
So who is Victoria Taylor? From the RAFM website:-
The winner of the Royal Air Force Museum Centenary Masters Bursary is Victoria Taylor. Victoria’s thesis, submitted to the University of Hull as part of her Masters in Historical Research, is entitled ‘Après Moi, Le Déluge’: Redressing the Wartime and Post-War Mythologization of Operation CHASTISE in Britain. Operation CHASTISE, or the Dam Busters raid, is an iconic military operation of the Second World War.
Utilising sources in Britain and Germany Victoria’s thesis makes a significant contribution in revising the popular mythology which has grown around the Dam Busters raid. As such the RAF Museum is delighted to celebrate Victoria’s academic research which helps fill an important gap in the historical understanding of the operation and its cultural impact in Britain.
Victoria holds a fervent interest in the history of airpower, particularly with regards to the ethical questions provoked by aerial warfare’s astonishingly rapid development during the twentieth century. Graduating from the University of Hull with a First-Class BA degree in History in 2016 Victoria completed her Masters in Historical Research in 2017 and she is currently researching for a PhD on the Nazification of the Luftwaffe in consortium with the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University.