"OTOH, Harris was obviously insubordinate, but for some reason seems to have been untouchable."
oddly enough in yesterdays Times Max Hastings was writing about Churchill and the memoirs of Anthony Montague Browne , the great man's last private secretary.
" On the wartime bombing offensive, which in the 1950s was becoming a focus of controversy, Churchill said of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, C-in-C of RAF
Bomber Command: “I admired his determination and his technical ability . . . And the Prof [Lord Cherwell] backed him up. You must remember that for a long time we had no other means of hitting back. The public demanded action and rejoiced at our counter-blows at German cities. But it did go on too long, and I pointed it out to the chiefs of staff. Such destruction tends to acquire its own momentum . . . That worried me about nuclear. Of course Harris was under-recognised at the end and so were his gallant men.”
As for the airman’s personality: “A very considerable commander. I said so many times. But there was a certain coarseness about him.”
I suspect that the British built up Harris, like Montgomery , as a war winner in 1942/43 but by late '44 it was clear they should be replaced but the public would have gone ape.