. . They Frighten Mel' However, perhaps we ought to
take a more robust view of these incidents. I imagine that they would have seemed pretty mild stuff to the Duke of Wellington, and a slight reading of Kipling shows just how unsafe civilian life and property could be within range of the old British Army in India. For most of its history ours has been a pro- fessional army, and, with the ending of national service, it is becoming so again. And I take it that most professional armies have a respectable record of rape and pillage usually exercised upon theoretically friendly populations. Anyone who remembers the rumours circulating during the war about the behaviour of Poles, Canadians or Americans in this country can easily appreciate how relations betweeen the BAOR and its local hosts may have deteriorated. Such a deterioration is to be regretted, but no amount of regret will alter the fact that the only alternative to soldiers fighting civilians from time to time is for them to be busy fighting the enemy. As between the two 1 imagine that most people would take the present unpleasantness.
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