Bomber Harris

John Thaw is excellent in this 1989 TV drama about Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris which was nominated for three BAFTA awards.

The film begins in early 1942 when Harris takes over RAF bomber command.

Convinced that the only way to win the war is by saturation bombing of German cities, this movie raises ethical issues about the tactics of bombing civilians. After the retaliatory strikes on German cities as reprisals for the Blitz by the Luftwaffe there was a directional shift from 'area bombing' as the strategic bombing of major cities was called, towards 'precision' bombing of military and strategic targets.

Harris is convinced that only by engaging major German cities will the war be ended swiftly but is hampered by insufficient aircraft poorly equipped for endurance bombing raids, the lack of coordinated efforts by American bomber command (who were focused upon strategic targets - despite their heavy losses) and moral opposition from higher authorities.

Harris wins enough approval to begin conducting 1000 bomber raids on Germany and pushes for a raid on Berlin. Area bombing remains an unpopular strategy and the successful raid on the Ruhr dams by 617 squadron begins to win opinion that favours the continuing strategy of precision bombing raids.

As the general direction of bombing raids swings towards supporting Operation Overlord and the D Day landings Harris is convinced that this will prolong the war and lead to greater loss of life on both sides of the conflict.

In particular Harris believes that D Day is unnecessary and will simply involve needless loss of life, an opinion forged by his own action in the trenches of WWI, and enlists the support from Churchill to continue with his area bombing campaign.

The bombing of Dresden produces negative publicity when dubbed 'terror bombing' by the news media and support for Harris severely wanes.

"Every German city is not worth the bones of one British Grenadier" states Harris.

Both the allies and Germany believed that air superiority and the strategic bombing of aircraft factories, crude oil manufacture, synthetic oil manufacture, rubber production, ball bearing factories and railways etc. is what significantly contributed to win the war in Europe.

The war in the far east still raged on however and only ended by the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Was Harris correct then? Is area bombing the only effective way to end armed conflict during war? 'Bomber Harris' cleverly raises these questions in this superb film. Despite their importance and contribution towards winning the war no campaign medal was ever issued for members of bomber command.

Edited with actual footage of bombing raids and music from the era adds to the nostalgic atmosphere of this film and helps preserve the era. Superb use is made throughout of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata no doubt meant to emphasis the RAF's strategy of bombing by moonlight.

A truly excellent film with superb acting from Thaw and definitely one to watch.

The WW2 life and history of Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris, Commander in Chief of RAF Bomber Command. He took Bomber Command from a minor, under-manned, badly equipped, low-priority unit to one of the most potent forces of the war. This all while struggling against superiors who had different priorities and against misguided agitators who had misgivings on how the war was being conducted.

Decent historical drama. Shows well "Bomber" Harris's, and RAF Bomber Command's, contribution to the Allied victory in WW2. Shows the effort Harris made in getting Bomber Command to its status as one of WW2's most potent forces, and the tough decisions he had to make along the way.

Does try to make it something more than that though, and therein lies the main negative aspect of the movie. There's is an element of revisionist history about it - all the self-indulgent pontificating from certain quarters about the morality of bombing cities. At least Harris has the last, and correct, word in that regard - winning the war is all that matters.

Does also feel quite dry in its delivery. Showing some bomber crews in action, and all the preparation and courage that goes into a bombing raid, would have gone a long way to making the movie more interesting, gritty and engaging. The bomber crews are never really made flesh, ending up just being statistics.

With the talent involved, I just knew Bomber Harris would be a treat and it did not disappoint. Production values-wise, some may not find it the most appealing with its confined theatre sets-like look, personally it wasn't a problem at all- they are admirably accurate and evoke the period very well, the way it's photographed at least shows someone with skill- as here it's not the production values that are most important but the story and Bomber Harris himself. Both of which are done wonderfully in this drama. The music cleverly uses music of the WWII period which gives it an evocative and nostalgic approach, likewise with the hauntingly melancholic Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, matching equally the harrowing images seen on screen, seen with the use of footage of bombing raids. Bomber Harris is brilliantly written, the script is filled with lines that are thought-provoking and inspiring, Harris being shown with his qualities and his faults with no extremities. The story is compelling throughout and will suit anybody regardless of how much or how little you know of the man, it is really interesting for those new to the subject and want to know more and people already familiar with it will admire how Bomber Harris never tries to be one-sided or open-or-shut. Harris was a very controversial person(which I think was a potential problem for the story, sometimes the more controversial the person or subject the film or drama is on the more difficult they would be to portray without insulting), and Bomber Harris shows that clearly through not making him either a good or bad person. Not just that but instead of outright saying that he was good or bad Bomber Harris leaves it to the viewer to decide, which aside from how the story was executed was what made the drama as interesting as it was. The direction keeps things running smoothly, and the supporting cast are great particularly Robert Hardy who plays Churchill as if born to play him. But aside from the quality of the writing and storytelling, the best thing about Bomber Harris is the lead performance of John Thaw, Thaw was one of Britain's greatest actors in my view who was never less than good(again opinion) and judging from his mesmerising performance here this has to be one of his best performances. All in all, wonderfully done in all areas. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Creating empathy for Harris with a German is not easy but this drama succeeded. First of all the film shows that Harris had a clear military target and a strategic objective. Furthermore the author plays devil's advocate in suggesting that Harris' strategy of aerial bombardment would have shortened the war as opposed to aiming at specific targets. Harris' duty as a soldier is to his men and his country regardless of the cost to others. Thaw plays him as a complex character: on the one hand as a ruthless soldier but on the other hand also as a human being. The film raises a lot of moral questions and does not provide easy answers but food for thought. It also sows what a fine actor John Thaw is: here he acts very restrained and controlled as opposed to his Morse/ Regan persona.

Firstly I have to say I enjoyed this film, and I suppose that's what counts. But it suffers from very low budget and it shows. Clearly most of the money went of the leading actors' salaries. Research and continuity were minimal. Portal's and Harris's medals are wrong. Ranks are wrong; Harris starts the War as an Air Chief Marchal, then for a few scenes is a mere Air Marshal and then an Air Chief Marshal again. Portal, his boss, is a Marshal of the RAF throughout the War although in reality he was only promoted to that rank after the War. It seems there was only one 1940s desk lamp in the props dept, as it appears on every desk including Harris's, even though it's well known he favoured the Anglepoise.

I also think the story of Harris and Bomber Command is too big to fit into 1h30m. Necessarily, huge amounts of the War are omitted... but we aren't really told, so one scene will transition to the next and only by picking up hints is it clear that we've jumped forward 3 years.

Good performances though. As I said, I enjoyed it, it kept me engaged, and I'd watch it again.