VCs in Vietnam
Sir: In reply to Mr Skeffington-Lodge (Let- ters, 2 May), the vc is awarded by the monarch for gallantry by a British subject, regardless of where, why, or in what war, though obviously if the cause were thought to be evil, it would be withheld.
This curious idea that wars 'belong' to people or nations, like allotments or trousers, is, to me at least, incomprehensible.
I. Fendall Mostyn House, Parkgate, Cheshire Sir: If her Australian Majesty, acting on the recommendation of the appropriate Australian Minister of State, is pleased to present, within the Australian realm, the Sovereign's highest military award for valour in the face of the enemy to two of her Australian subjects, is it a matter which con- cerns that English busybody Mr T. C. Skeffington-Lodge?
Let him withdraw his indiscretion com- mitted at a most inappropriate time. Many Australians I know are sensitive to criticism of their Queen, particularly when it comes from an apparent outsider with a colonialist outlook.
F. Baden King Flat 5, 33 De Vere Gardens, London w8
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