Letter: Old soldiers never brawled

Sir: I am grieved to read of the "morale problems of troops sent to the Falklands on four-month postings, deprived of female company" (report, 14 April).

As a National Service airman in the 1950s I spent 18 months in Aden, also deprived of female company and with only the camp cinema and Naafi for entertainment. No vidoes, no phone calls home, and the food was pretty poor. This was repeated at isolated spots all over the Middle and Far East and yet we did not feel the need to half-kill each other - in fact, it made us more tolerant of each other's faults.

The men in the Falklands should grow up and thank their lucky stars that overseas postings are reduced to such paltry periods.

T N HANCOCK

Lincoln