Sir Arthur Harris at the Strand, London

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This bronze sculpture is now on permanent display along The Strand in London, honoring Sir Arthur Harris. A plaque at the base of the sculpture reads: "Marshal of the Royal Air Force, Sir Arthur Harris BT GCB OBE AFC. In Memory of a great commander and of the brave crews of bomber command, more than 55,000 of whom lost their lives for freedom's cause. The nation owes them all an immense debt." Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 1st Baronet GCB, OBE, AFC (13 April 1892 – 5 April 1984), commonly known as "Bomber" Harris by the press and often within the RAF as "Butcher" Harris, was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief AOC-in-C of RAF Bomber Command during World War II's latter half. In 1942, the British Cabinet agreed to German cities' area bombing. Harris was tasked with implementing Churchill's policy and supported developing tactics and technology for more effective execution. Harris assisted British Chief of the Air Staff Marshal of the Royal Air Force Charles Portal in carrying out UK's most devastating attacks against German infrastructure and population, including Dresden's Bombing. In 1910 at age 17, Harris emigrated to Southern Rhodesia but returned to England in 1915 to fight in World War I's European theatre. He joined the Royal Flying Corps, remaining until the Royal Air Force's formation in 1918, and he stayed in the Air Force through the 1920s and 1930s, serving in India, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Palestine, and elsewhere. At World War II's outbreak in 1939, Harris took command of No. 5 Group RAF in England, and in February 1942 was appointed head of Bomber Command, retaining that position through the war. After the War, Harris moved to South Africa where he managed the South African Marine Corporation. Harris's continued preference for area bombing over precision targeting in the last year of the war remains a topic of controversy, partly because many senior Allied air commanders thought it less effective and partly for the large number of civilian casualties and destruction this strategy caused in Continental Europe.