1 MARCH 1946, Page 12

SIR,—Your correspondent's article on the Poles in Italy was timely.

Her estimated number of too,000 is conservative. Despite the reduction of official news of their behaviour, this is widely known by the usual "bush telegraph" system to the Italian population. I can testify to the unpopu- larity of this behaviour not only with Italians of the political Left but also among many of the Liberal party—the Italian Liberal party representing, as many of your readers will know, perhaps the middle section of the Conservative party in England. The presence of the Polish forces .s welcomed only, I think, by a small section of extreme Monarchist- Catholics and UOMO Qualunque followers, whose political insight and intelligence are in the main negligible. I say in the main, because one cannot exclude the presence of a few clever and dangerous organisers of a revived Fascism or its derivatives. To the many other Italians, of just that outlook which we as a democracy wish to encourage, the Poles are an army of reactionary and largely unemployed mercenaries. Moreover, their presence and activities are viewed inevitably as a part of British Government policy. Such facts as this should be borne in mind when interpreting the behaviour of our Russian allies at the conference table.—