13 FEBRUARY 1993, Page 24

They won in 1805

Sir: Last week (6 January) in two articles, by David Hart (`Not enough bang for our bucks') and Paul Johnson (And another thing) you compared French and British military abilities. While I yield to none in my admiration of the French Special Forces' élan and effec- tiveness in rapid intervention, I feel it needs to be pointed out that the last great French military victory was Austerlitz.

R Malachi O'Loughlin

17 Springdale, Wallingford, Oxfordshire