WWII veteran Harry Irons reflects on his service in RAF Bomber Command

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Harry Irons (January 1924 - November 2018) joined the RAF in 1940, by lying about his age. He served as a mid-upper gunner and later a rear gunner aboard Lancaster and Halifax bombers, in No. 9 Squadron and No. 158 Squadron. Here he reflects on his wartime service including post-war treatment of aircrew, the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, losses within No. 9 Squadron and casualties in bombed cities.
I recorded this interview on the 30th July 2016, and would like to thank the International Bomber Command Centre for making this interview possible.
An Imperial War Museum interview with him can be found here:
www.iwm.org.uk...

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3 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 5

@hawsug4614 4 месяца назад

I can't escape the feeling that the interviewer is just an uninformed child of this century---maybe another millennial who's heard the anti-Bomber Command narrative from friends and the media. My father also was in the war. If he were alive today, I know that he would have no respect for those who now denigrate efforts of Bomber Command and all those who survived to give us this life. It's disgraceful if we only criticize. We're also here able to recognize our liberties as a result of BC's work.

@thomasozel4889 4 месяца назад

Whilst I was in my 20s when I recorded my interviews with Bomber Command veterans, I did my best to ensure that I was sufficiently informed before meeting them. This included viewing documentaries, such as Who Betrayed The Bomber Boys?, watching debates about the bombing campaign, listening to interviews with Arthur Harris and reading a speech that he gave in 1977 (see PDF link below). I found the 1977 speech very informative and gave copies of it to each Bomber Command veteran that I interviewed. They all reacted positively when reading Harris's words. Ron Davies described it as, "The answer to any and all of his critics." www.460squadronraaf.com/documents/arthur_speech.pdf Harry Irons told me that he was in the audience for the 1977 speech. A recording can be found here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pcmhU1QOnWg.html