Professor Denis Twitchett

It was at Soas in Russell Square that Denis Twitchett [obituary by Professor David McMullen, 19 April] studied Japanese, writes Michael Staunton - dodging the VIs rumbling overhead as we all did. From there he went to Bletchley Park, which was the Intelligence Centre, not a training establishment, to serve in the Japanese section, where he made good friends. He returned to Soas after the war, to learn Chinese.