Wensleydale:
Sorry Chug.... you can't ask not to continue this topic in the same post as giving incorrect information.
Whereas Wikki is correct? The offer of a baronetcy to Harris by Attlee is not,
AFAIK, anything more than an allegation, or is there something more substantial than Wikki's or, with all due respect, your word for it? Similarly Harris's alleged refusal, on the grounds that such a title would be meaningless in Africa where he intended to retire, is purely anecdotal. I still believe that the Realpolitik of the time was that our enemies were now our allies and our allies likely to be our enemies. Ennobling the man who had lain waste to Germany needlessly (here I play Devil's Advocate) was hardly going to encourage the Germans to embrace democracy and man the ramparts by our side. Likewise the Soviets would see that as an own goal and exploit it, especially in their own zone of East Germany. I very much doubt if such an offer was ever made, or if it were it was done so in such a manner as to ensure refusal.
The truth is, subject to your rebuttal, that we will never know, and in truth the baubles handed out or otherwise to VSO's in 1946 are of little consequence compared to the big lie that the British (as compared to the US) Bombing Campaign 1939-45 was a failure and did not significantly contribute to Allied Victory. Of course there were mistakes, reverses and, ironically of all, raids that went too well for people's comfort. Of course the prevalent view among the enthusiasts, including Harris, that conventional bombing alone could win a war was proved wrong. But the bombing offensive, both by night and by day, contributed greatly to eventual victory, and in my view was an essential ingredient of it.