"[F]or excellent reasons, [the government] has preferred the world to think that we still held some scruples and attacked only what the humanitarians are pleased to call 'Military Targets'. I can assure you, gentlemen, that we tolerate no scruples!"

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Military leaders from EnglandAviatorsMilitary leaders of World War II
Original Language: English

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purportedly said in November 1941, circulated as early as 19 October 2017 referring to Portal as "commander-in-chief, British bomber command". This was due to a mis-reading of Selwood's Telegraph article from 2015 quoted below, due to similarity between Portal's title "Chief of the Air Staff" and the "Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command" which was (unspecified by Selwood) Richard Peirse, who has been otherwise credited since at least 2013 as being the origin of this quote.