http://www.strangehistory.net/2012/10/21/dowding-and-the-fairies/
I am surpirsed that with his interest in Faires that he wasnt in the Navy ;D
Actually, I recall reading somewhere that despite Dowding's success at helping save England during 'the Blitz', he was haunted in his sleep every night by what he believed to be the spirits of the men who died as a result of the decisions he made.
Maybe we could use a few more like him in charge of those who are sent into harm's way.
Well for sure Bomber "Butcher" Harris wasnt disturbed by the deaths of the men under his command (not to derail the thread)
QuoteIn the six years of the Bomber Command (three and a half of them under Harris' command), it despatched at least 297,663 sorties by night and 66,851 by day and dropped almost one million tons of bombs. It is estimated that Harris's bombing campaign killed 500,000 German civilians, injured another 1 million and destroyed 3 million homes. Harris argued that the attacks on the German cities were justified as they helped to shorten the war and saved numerous allied lives. This argument did not quell his critics. British civilian victims of German bombs were estimated to be about 60,000 compared with 500,000 German victims of British bombs. Criticism and hostility towards Harris grew with the passage of time. There were critics who were against any bombings of civilians at all and there were those who thought that bombing of German cities was justified in the early part of the war but that it should be switched to precision bombing of selected targets in the later years.
There was yet another group of critics who critised the operational conduct of the campaign. The Bomber Command also suffered heavy losses - about 55,000 aircrew were killed, most of them officers and NCOs with 40,000 aircrew deaths attributable to the period under Harris's command. Questions have been raised as to whether the results justify the sacrifices made by the aircrew.
Dowding believed in fairies but according to the ones I talk with, they don't believe in him. They call the whole thing, "A great big Dowding tale". They're hard to understand because they're so little, so you have to listen closely but they like to share their mushrooms with you. :o