21 JULY 2007, Page 15

Asleep in the saddle

Sir: Paul Johnson seems unaware that for centuries cavalry troopers around the world knew how to sleep on horseback and often had to do so. He even casts doubt on the 'leathery old sweat' who told him that you can fall asleep on a camel (And Another Thing, 30 June).

When Lieutenant Robert Wilson of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars wrote home from Palestine in August 1916 he recorded that: 'My troop was last in the column and practically every man was sound asleep in the saddle.'

Naturally, there could be problems. A column might grind to a halt or lose its way in the night. A lot depended on the horses. It is claimed that Polish horses in the Napoleonic wars seldom strayed, unlike that of Major Longworth in Palestine a century or so later. While he was `fast asleep', his horse decided to leave the Regiment and join up with the Artillery who were marching parallel. Major Longworth woke up back in camp with the gunners.

Ian Blair Nympsfield, Glos