EIGHTY YEARS ON from the end of the Second World War, and fast approaching the third year of the War in Ukraine, it is often difficult to enable even middle-aged television presenters to understand fully the horror of aerial warfare between 1939 and 1945.

The generation of young military historians reporting on the Battle of Britain in 2024 do not always avail themselves well. They are unaware that many people who remember the Battle of Britain still live. To impress upon the viewer that the Battle of Britain was seen differently by the public, this young historian then mimicked one of the most famous Churchillian speeches of 1940 by uttering a phrase as if she had an onion stuffed in her mouth, accompanied by a dismissive wave of the hand. I am thankful that my parents are not alive to have seen that.

Nevertheless, this particular historian also gave very good accounts of other parts of the Battle of Britain.

What I learned is that Generation Z sees the world differently from my generation. I grew up in the very long shadow of the Second World War. My friends in Germany did likewise. We regularly compare notes and timelines. Alas, we have that terrible sense of foreboding that I now realise my four grandparents and my parents had. We, too, know what is coming. It is horrendous. And this persists, despite the present horror of the Israel-HAMAS War and the War in Ukraine.

Occasionally, I’m reminded Oh, no … that’s just what happens in Hollywood films. I give a silent nod to relatives who paid the price for me to be here… and I think of those family archive letters in which, in his own hand, one of my uncles, to his Dad, has listed all the cities, towns, railway junctions, ports and synthetic oil plants that he and thousands of fellow airmen were required to deliver devastating ordnance on the hapless people below.

And all because of one man… Partly, yes, largely, no.

Sound familiar?

That initial observation is brought into blunt, terrifying focus by the Israel-HAMAS War.

Before denouncing, let us remember that the Allied Air Forces did the same to Germany. The country was a wasteland when the War in Europe ended with unconditional surrender on 9 May 1945.

Let us remember what we, the Allies, did to Caen, in 1944. The Allies had to break the enemy’s hold on that ancient city, and to not do so would have juddered the Normandy Invasion to a halt and given the Nazis a foothold. The price paid for the relentless allied bombing and shelling was 20,000 French civilians killed as well as the raising to the ground of Caen. Why? Because the enemy made it a fortified position and hid behind the civilian population. Middle East tactics are not new tactics.

I’m moved to include here my German friend’s comment and advice regarding this website because she is absolutely correct, and I am, indeed, grateful to her.

Ken, I'm glad you had a good Zoom with A. B. yesterday, 20 December.

The Aviation website can certainly be further developed. It is like a precious history book full of lively, knowledgeable, and historic events. The most emotional photo for me is the one with the children in the ditch. That touched me deeply. We can only imagine what those little souls have been through. Fears leave their marks. I wish that these experiences continue to serve as a lesson for today. It should never be forgotten.

Ken, that's why this website is so important!

Thank you, Rita. I hear you, as too does Armin Braunsberger of Braunsberger Media.

(1 January 2024)

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