Will the Queen say sorry?

Germany asks will Queen say sorry? 04:44, Oct 29 2004

By Alexandra Hudson

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans are waiting to see how the Queen refers to Britain's 1945 bombing of Dresden when she visits next week, now that they are speaking more of their own war-time suffering and breaking a long-standing taboo.

Just days ahead of the Queen's first visit since 2000, a row has erupted in the British and German press over whether the air raids were justified and whether the monarch should apologise.

Dresden was devastated in a firestorm which killed some 35,000 people just three months before the war's end. The fate of the eastern city has come to epitomise civilian suffering.

"Will the queen say sorry?" asked the country's largest selling newspaper Bild on Thursday.

The queen will host a concert in Berlin to raise money for Dresden's cathedral which lay in rubble for 50 years and is now a focus of German and British reconciliation.

"Such delicate gestures of reconciliation are probably too complicated for newspapers like Daily Mail and Daily Express to understand," wrote the Berliner Zeitung daily.

ANGER IN BRITISH PRESS

Talk of an apology has angered populist newspapers.

"Krautrage" said a headline in the Daily Star tabloid.

"Sorry, the Germans must never be allowed to forget their evil past," wrote columnist Simon Heffer in the Daily Mail.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman was quoted in Germany's Der Spiegel newsmagazine saying the Queen had not been asked for an apology. But she added: "The Queen is very conscious of the suffering of all people during the war."

The queen's three-day visit aims to focus on the future relationship of Britain and Germany.

On a visit to Britain two weeks ago German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he was amazed at the lingering portrayal of Germany in the British media as a nation of Nazis.

It was long considered unwise and even dangerously nationalistic for Germans to question whether Allied bombings were necessary or legitimate but German historian Joerg Friedrich did just that in 2003 in a best-selling book.

"Will the queen say sorry?" asked the country's largest selling newspaper Bild on Thursday.

Who bombed my grandads chippy

Will the Germanas appologise for slaughtering millions of jews or bombing britain.
Invading many coutries???

Who gave Phil the Greek the shiner??

The bombing of Dresden should have resulted in a charge of “acts against humanity� for Air Marshall Arthur Harris, but as England won the war no such thing ever came about!

The Americans don't go on about the war as the Brits do and if was not for them and the Polish and Czech spitfire pilots we would have lost the war. OK they did not get bombed as much as say UK but they lost a lot more of their service men and women than the British

Its one of the oldest towns in england, right ?

Roman Colchester
Colchester is the oldest recorded Roman town in England, although it existed as a Celtic settlement before the Roman conquest and there is archaeological evidence of settlement 3,000 years ago. Its Celtic name was "Camulodunon", meaning "the Fortress of Camulos". (Camulos was the Celtic god of war.) This name was modified to the Roman spelling of "Camulodunum" (written "CAMVLODVNVM").
Camulodunum was the capital of the Catuvellauni tribe. King Cunobelinus (or "Cunobelin") (Cymbeline in William Shakespeare's play and "Old King Cole" of the nursery rhyme) was ruler of the Catuvellauni when the Romans invaded Britain in 43.

A Roman legionary fortress was established at Colchester in 43. This was the first permanent legionary fortress to be built in Britain. Later, when the Roman frontier moved north (c. 49), Colchester became a colonia known as Colonia Claudia Victricensis (written "COLONIA CLAVDIA VICTRICENSIS"). Colchester was the first Roman capital of Britain before this was later moved to the more accessible site of London.

A Roman monumental temple was built at Colchester in c. 44 and was dedicated to the Emperor Claudius as The Temple of the Divine Claudius. The temple was completely destroyed during Boudicca's rebellion in 61.

Colchester was the only place in the province of Britannia where samian ware was produced (for a short time). Roman brick making and wine growing also took place in the area. Bricks have been made in Colchester (or in the surrounding area) for around 2,000 years.

Many Roman mosiacs and artefacts have been found in subsequent archaelogical digs in the town and some can be seen at the Colchester Castle museum. The Roman walls still survive (they are the most complete in the country) and they contain the largest surviving Roman gateway in Britain. Many holes have been cut in the walls over the years and the history of the whole town can be seen in its surviving structure. Today, medieval buttresses, shops and steps can still be seen and walked on.