Sir: Ian Buruma is wrong to suggest that the French
tend to ignore the second world war because they lost or collaborated. It is all the other way: Britain is the country where there is nothing to show that there ever was a war and where its heroes are forgotten. There may be some over-emphasis on de Gaulle or Leclerc in France, but there are ten — or a hundred — times as many streets and squares named after Churchill in Nor- mandy alone as in the whole of Britain.
I was in Dieppe around the time of the 50th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid. This was hardly noticed here, while in Dieppe
LETTERS
every house carried the flags of Britain, France and Canada. There were solemn ceremonies at which veterans from Britain and Canada were honoured: the main church has them in stained glass. Even the chocolate shops were selling special designs honouring these men.
It is not France or even Germany but rather Britain which has made its history disappear. What we commemorate in our streets and squares are the names and titles of the landowners whose sole contribution to our history was, and is, extracting rents. The French may perhaps skim over collab- oration in their many monuments, street names and commemorative ceremonies, but the events of their (and our) history are not ignored as they are here — and our heroes get a better deal in France than in their own country!
George Stern
6 Eton Court, 6 Shepherds Hill, London N6
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