Letter: Iraq's travails

Sir: I was an unimportant soldier in Malaya, but had to fire the customary volleys over a fellow soldier's grave. I protest most vehemently at Ellen Collins's denigrating his, and other servicemen's, sacrifice in order to oppose action against Iraq.

Remembrance Day is for all people who have died in war since 1914. Although the causes of the First World War are complex, Britain's hands were pretty clean: we went in against an aggressor. Our main moral failure in the Thirties was not fighting Hitler sooner. We were against possibly the most evil dictatorship ever, and would have suffered terribly had we lost and the rest of Europe would have fared even worse than it did. The only reason for saying Nazism was "possibly" the worst is that Stalin's and Chinese communism are close contenders for the title. We, in Malaya, preserved the country from that.

British servicemen did not die "to satisfy the vanity of a few powerful men". They were preserving all our freedom, and the very lives of many. Ms Collins should ask her history teacher to teach her some history.

There are arguments against bombing Iraq. Give them, but do not insult the dead.

D WATERTON

Wigan