OPINION IN THE FORCES SIR, —Some, little time ago Mr. Harold
Nicolson's "Marginal Comment" dealt with the feeling of " forsakenness " amongst our Forces abroad. Naturally, this has aroused much interest among the soldiers themselves, and the following extract from a letter from my husband (who is with the M.E.F.) may seem to you worth quoting:
"Although there is a good deal of high spirits and good humour, I
often detect an underlying note of cynicism and pessimism—which is easy to understand, particularly amongst militiamen who left home aged 20 and look like being 26 or 27 before they get home. There is the nagging anxiety about making a foothold in life after the war and the rather bitter feeling that the endurance for- years of the discomforts and dangers of service overseas will be ignored by the public, and will have been in vain so far as the individual himself is concerned. There is the feeling that those who -are hiding out now will reap the serviceman's reward. Periodically, of course, we all go slightly ' crackers ' through the prolonged effects of monotony, heat, flies, insects, major or minor illnesses and fevers, separation from our loved ones and women of our own kind—any women at all for that matter. Sport and entertainments are the chief antidotes for these mild neuroses. Letters and news from home are eagerly seized upon, and Government announcements on demobilisation 'and post-war planning, &c., are the subject of endless discussion. The swaddy's ' philosophy could be summed up thus:
'Roll on the "Nelson," the "Rodney," the "Hood," This — country is no — good.'
Garnish with expletives according to taste or depravity! "
On the subject of the politics of the Forces abroad, he goes son to say: " . . . they couldn't be much 'redder.' What appals me is their colossal ignorance on the questions on which they'll have to vote after the war. That's why I think A.B.C.A. lectures or discussions are so useful—small amounts of information may be imparted."—Yours, &c., E. F. ALLAN.
Gilda, Penrhyn Avenue, Rhos-on-Sea.
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