NO APOLOGY NECESSARY

by RAY FLEMING
SAYING sorry is the big thing of the moment. Or rather, not saying sorry. Queen Elizabeth is the latest person to get caught up in the apology game. Her State Visit to Germany this week has prompted calls from the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer for an acknowledgement from Britain that the bombing of German cities by the RAF in the Second World War was a “war crime”. Suspicion that some kind of apology might be offered was heightened when the British Ambassador to Germany, Sir Peter Torry, spoke about the bombing of the city of Bruswick and asked “How can we explain to our children the madness that was unleashed in those days?” It is very unlikely indeed that the Queen will venture into such controversial waters and, in fact, there is no need at all for her to do so. There is nothing to apologise for. The loss of life and devastation caused by the RAF and USAAF bombing in such cities as Dresden, Hamburg and Brunswick was dreadful but it was part of a war that had been forced on Britain by Germany; if it had not been won the consequences for the whole of Europe would have been tragic and lasting. The argument that Dresden and Brunswick were not valid military targets has been made but all the reliable evidence shows that both were important as transport and industrial centres.