The U-boat situation in the Atlantic was ‘so grave’, Pound wrote, that a stand had to be made, even if it led to ‘the extreme step of resignation’.15 Again his pleas were rejected. Despite Churchill’s personal ties to the navy, and belief that the safe passage of convoys was key to Britain’s survival, the prime minister was enamoured with Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, the commander-in-chief of Bomber Command. Harris had a talent for public relations and, in modern parlance, optics. When he sent a fleet of bombers to attack Cologne on 30th May 1942, the figure of 1,000 aircraft was
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