A slur on my comrades
From Francis Bean ion Sir: I am an Englishman living near Exeter. I was interested to learn from Jane Gardam's review of Doris Lessing's Time Bites (Books, 23 October) that the latter had told girls of Exeter School that when she was young 'there was the Soviet Union, Hitler's Germany, Mussolini of Italy, the British empire' and that she now rejoiced that 'they are all gone'.
I am 81. For me there were also these things. I spent five years of my youth fighting Hitler's Germany and Mussolini of Italy in company with many brave young men and women from various parts of the British empire. I captained a Wellington bomber of 221 Squadron when the other four in the crew were all Australians. They would have been surprised to be lumped with the enemy in a sour condemnation like this.
Francis Benn ion
Budleigh Salterton, Devon
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