10 MARCH 1984, Page 17

Cobbett's canal

Sir: Is Richard West right (`Chancellor's dilemma', 25 February) in attributing to Cobbett a belief that the Hythe Military Canal was built as a sort of anti-tank ditch? If so, Cobbett was less intelligent than I had always thought. The canal was built to provide quick lateral communications, particularly for artillery and supplies. No one knew upon which part of the coast-line opposite Boulogne the invading army might appear. If Napoleon had had bombers he would have put the canal out of commission immediately before invading, just as the railway system of northern France was put out of commission immediately before D-day.

G. F. G. Watson

Tara, Woodland Rise, Widernesse, Sevenoaks, Kent