SIR – Regarding the discussion on whether the British police should be armed.

Remember, the Britain of today is not the Britain of 50 years ago. I have had a slight interest in firearms since joining the Army Cadets in 1941 at 12 years of age. Our local School of Artillery on Salisbury Plain made some of their facilities available to our weekly, weekends and holiday meetings, such as a gymnasium, a sports field and a 25-yard indoor shooting range, plus the army instructors – at one time we had an officer teaching us military map reading.

In 1943, our weapon training was taken over by the local Airborne Regiment stationed at Tilshead, Salisbury Plain. At the time no-one knew how long the war would last. Some of the older cadets were in the army.

By the age of 15, I had fired all the weapons issued to the Airborne Regiment, including the 2in mortar and the American 45 automatic, usually issued to Airborne Sergeant glider pilots!

Having visited most European countries including Italy, Spain, and Russia, plus the Middle East, the USA and Canada, I have noticed that every uniformed foreign policeman is armed.

Does this mean that they are right, and we are wrong, or that we are right, and they are wrong? Or are we special?

W Robinson, Manor Close, Bradford