21 NOVEMBER 1981, Page 17

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Sir: Murray Sayle's statement, 'Wingate later went on to drive the Italians out of Abyssinia at the head of the Sudan Defence Force ' (24 October) does less than justice to the dead of two armies lying in the War Graves Cemetery on the hills overlooking Addis Ababa, still faithfully attended by Ethiopians. Two armies, one from the north under General Platt, one from the south under General Cunningham, both made up of units of British, East, West and South African troops, drove the Italians out of Abyssinia. When Wingate arrived outside Addis Ababa with the Emperor and some 40 odd supporters, on 5 May 1941, the capital had been in General Cunningham's hands for a month.

B. H. Raven Roberts

Chairman, The Anglo-Ethiopian Society, Saint Cloud, Old Hills, Callow End, Worcester