Sir, – Robert Gerwarth writes a mostly excellent review of Richard Overy's book The Bombing War (Weekend Review, November 9th) whose thesis is that allied bombing was useless, ineffectual and brutal particularly in the use of incendiary bombs.
However, Gerwarth states the British were the first to “systematically bomb civilians”. He is wrong. Much worse than the initial bombing of Warsaw and Rotterdam, was the unprovoked bombing of Belgrade for three days, ordered in a fit of pique by Hitler after the overthrow of Paul’s government that signed a pact allowing German troops to transit Yugoslavia to attack Greece. The bombardment against a defenceless city without a declaration of war lasted 72 hours without a break (April 6th-9th, 1941) until Belgrade was wiped out.
The Maltese nation endured such relentless bombing (1941-43) that the country was awarded a collective George Cross and the aerial bombing was systematically undertaken by the Germans to terrorise the highly strategic island into surrender.
The destruction of Guernica in 1936 by German bombers was the very first test of the effects of systematic bombing on innocent civilians and the RAF barely existed on paper that year. With one year to go before the end of the second World War, Germany was systematically bombing the UK with V1 and V2 rockets and more lethal weaponry was in the offing including rockets that could be fired from E-boats.
The debate is worthwhile, but as moral inferences will be drawn all the facts need to be aired systematically. – Yours, etc,
ROLAND EVANS,
Dundela Park,
Sandycove, Co Dublin.