Wednesday, November 12, 2003
"Night closed around us"
On the weekend I braved the damp, chill air to watch the Lord Mayor's Show. Good, solid English pomp and circumstance in enjoyable parade format. John explains the difference between the Mayor and the Lord Mayor. I loved the orchestra on bikes, the one on horseback, and all the cute kids in costumes. Photos will be posted sooner or later. I also saw the latest Matrix (verdict: that's an awfully well-filmed video game) and drank with some Irish friends of friends, all of whom had great stories I can't possibly do justice to here.
I didn't go to the Remembrance Day ceremony on Sunday. As usual, I spent the 11th of November thinking about my grandfathers and other relatives and the choices they made during WWII. My last course of the day was about the history of Operational Research, the way it was established and used in England during the war. At the end of class we walked down to see the statues of Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris (Commander in Chief Bomber Command, Royal Air Force 1942 - 1945) and Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowling (Commander in Chief Fighter Command, Royal Air Force 1936 - 1940) outside a church on the Strand.
Both men had O.R. teams supporting them, but while Lord Dowding was using it to strengthen defenses (mostly through the use of radar), 'Bomber' Harris implemented the controversial bombing raids on civilian populations. As some people wondered what this had to do with O.R., our class read the inscriptions on the statues.
Lord Dowding's:
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL LORD DOWDING WAS COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF FIGHTER COMMAND, ROYAL AIR FORCE, FROM ITS FORMATION IN 1936 UNTIL NOVEMBER 1940. HE WAS THUS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PREPARATION FOR AND THE CONDUCT OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN.
WITH REMARKABLE FORESIGHT, HE ENSURED THE EQUIPMENT OF HIS COMMAND WITH MONOPLANE FIGHTERS, THE HURRICANE AND THE SPITFIRE. HE WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO APPRECIATE THE VITAL IMPORTANCE OF R.D.F. (RADAR) AND OF AN EFFECTIVE COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR HIS SQUADRONS. THEY WERE READY WHEN WAR CAME.
IN THE PRELIMINARY STAGES OF THAT WAR, HE THOROUGHLY TRAINED HIS MINIMAL FORCES AND CONSERVED THEM AGAINST STRONG POLITICAL PRESSURE TO DISPERSE AND MISUSE THEM. HIS WISE AND PRUDENT JUDGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP HELPED TO ENSURE VICTORY AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS AND THUS PREVENTED THE LOSS OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN AND PROBABLY THE WHOLE WAR.
TO HIM, THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN AND OF THE FREE WORLD OWE LARGELY THE WAY OF LIFE AND THE LIBERTIES THEY ENJOY TODAY.
Sir Harris's inscription is way briefer and a tribute to his crews, not to him:
IN MEMORY OF A GREAT COMMANDER AND OF THE BRAVE CREWS OF BOMBER COMMAND. MORE THAN 55,000 OF WHOM LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM.
THE NATION OWES THEM ALL AN IMMENSE DEBT.
The inscriptions on each statue are telling, but it was Harris's statue with a remembrance wreath in front of it, with more good writing on the card:
'As the flarepath disappeared below the port wing and night closed around us, I looked at the familiar faces of my crew, dim in the glow of cockpit lighting. I realised that here was a brotherhood that could never be destroyed and understood why England could never be defeated."
-Lord Cheshire, VC, OM, DSO and two bars, DFC
