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Old 13th Aug 2014, 08:27
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Wensleydale
 
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Chug...


Don't forgot that this was all politics! The victory parade was in 1946 and the new Labour government did not want to upset the Russians - if we included the Poles in the parade then we might have been reminded of the primary war aim of 1939 when Russia was in league with Germany. Don't forget that many Poles who returned home after the war were executed.


As for Bomber Command.... Churchill was coming up for re-election in 1945, and was receiving much criticism from the pacifists and clergy in the House of Lords over Dresden. The raid on Dresden was a sledgehammer to crack a nut because Churchill wanted to demonstrate to Stalin what Bomber Command could do (Stalin had asked for the raids on communications centres in the path of the Russian forces and so Harris was instructed to do a good job. The Germans - who were wary of possible war crimes trials that would come along after the war - inflated the casualty figures and for the first time released footage of the full destruction of a German town.) Therefore, Churchill in true politician manner washed his hands of Bomber Command and blamed Harris.


Its all about votes in the end - not what is right.
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