24 AUGUST 1944, Page 14

THE FORGOTTEN ALLY SIR,—In a book recently published in America,

The Forgotten Ally, by Pierre van Paassen, which has had very large sales, the assertion is made that one-quarter of General Montgomery's 8th Army at the time of Ala- mein—the holding of the vital line and the final break through—was com- posed of Jews. This statement has been quoted in many American journals and has had very wide publicity in that country. At the present time there must be serving in this country several officers who were acting in an administrative capacity with General Montgomery in 1942, and it would be interesting to hear if this statement is true. If it is correct it is strange that none of our British war correspondents mentioned it at the time, and if it is incorrect it would be as well to hear the truth before the rumour becomes established as a fact.—Yours faithfully,