This does not diminish the courage of the airmen who fight today with the help of a more advanced technology, but it should make us realise the extent of self-sacrifice and boldness of those who contributed to end the atrocities of an evil regime.
Those who fought in those days needed 'guts' to do what they did. The difference between air warfare during WWII and today's 'push-button' combat is highlighted in this sentence. Post-war, the man was considered a hero by some the man who brought Nazi Germany to her knees and forced her to surrender, thus putting an end to the horrors that were taking place there and a mass-murderer by others because of the killing of thousands of innocent civilians that his strategy implied. The huge losses of bomber crews during the 194245 carpet-bombing of Germany (which began with a massive attack on Cologne, also mentioned in the song) gave Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris, head of Bomber Command at that time and initiator of the switch to the destruction of civilian targets instead of military and industrial ones, the nickname of 'Butcher' Harris among the RAF crewmen. After dealing with the horrors of a bombing on the ground, we are taken here to the suffering of the airmen, who also risked their lives during such campaigns.
