SIR – Yet another letter from Mr Holmans (T&A, June 30), this time countering Mr Robinson’s views on National Service.
Mr Holmans says: “Mr Robinson cites a range of health and education benefits – forgetting that conscription was simply teaching all ranks the most effective way to kill the enemy”. What a load of rubbish!
Of course the medics ensured that we were fit, or we would not have been of use to any service. The opportunity to improve one’s education was also readily available.
As a Coder (Education) I was trained for a dual role: 1 To assist the instructor officers by preparing ratings for naval exams, to help in their promotion and to help people studying for O-levels, Civil Service exams, etc.
2 My other role was coding and decoding messages – this I did for five months at sea during the Suez crisis.
Like the vast majority of RN and RAF National Servicemen I was certainly not ‘trained to kill’.
James Sutcliffe, Crow Tree Close, Baildon
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