- He was awarded the AFC (Air Force Cross) in 1918 for his services to the United Kingdom during World War I.
- He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) and Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire for his military services to the Royal Air Force during World War II.
- In 1992 to celebrate his 100th birthday, Queen Mother unveiled a statue of Sir Arthur Travers Harris in Whitehall, London, England. She appeared surprised and upset to be jeered by protesters, one of whom shouted, "Harris was a war criminal." She attempted to give a speech, but it was frequently interrupted by shouts from protesters. The statue had to be guarded for some time after it was repeatedly vandalized.
- Famously stated that the Germans had "reaped the whirlwind" by bombing London, although the RAF actually began bombing German cities four months before the Blitz started.
- Began bombing German cities and towns on 11 May 1940.
- As a squadron leader he devised night terror bombing raids against civilians in Iraq in 1923.
- Declined a peerage in 1946, but accepted one in 1953.
- Major supporter of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
- A major supporter of Ian Smith's regime in Rhodesia.
- He regarded Operation Chastise (the Dambusters' raid in May 1943) as a complete failure and a waste of resources, and was initially strongly opposed to the idea of a bouncing bomb.
- He was nicknamed "Butcher Harris" in the RAF due to his seeming indifference to the high losses his aircrew were suffering during World War II.
- His continued preference for area bombing over precision targeting remains controversial to this day. Harris even threatened to resign in 1944 when he was ordered to focus on bombing oil facilities instead of cities.
- During the infamous raid on Dresden in February 1945 civilian areas were virtually destroyed while the vital factories and transport centers were left untouched.
- Throughout the summer of 1944, Harris called for the resumption of massed attacks against German cities. He even threatened to resign when given a directive, dated 25 September 1944, recommending that Bomber Command concentrate against oil and communications targets.
- The Area Bombing Directive was contradictory to Article 25 of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, and sparked international debate if the directive can be classified as a legalization of war crimes against the German civilian population.
- In December 1943, he declared that RAF Bomber Command could bring about the collapse of Germany by April 1944. Yet his high hopes proved unfounded. By the end of March, German morale was nowhere near breaking point, and Hitler's war machine was far from crippled. German armament production continued to rise until mid-1944.
- An investigation in 1942 revealed that just one in five British aircraft was succeeding in dropping its bombs within five miles of its target.
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