30 DECEMBER 2000, Page 22

`Other ranks' Blair

From Mr R.H. Wilson Sir: On reading Peter Burnand's article (`Carry on, Sar' Major', 18 November) on his time at Sandhurst, I was reminded of my time at Mons Officer Cadet School, which was run along similar lines to Sandhurst and was the preparatory ground for National Service officers (some of the Sandhurst staff also served at Mons). I wonder how Blair and his cohorts would have fared if they had been called up for National Service. Sadly, they would not have been likely to have experienced the character-building rigours of Mons training as it is probable that most of them would have been classified as 'not suitable as officer material'.

R.H. Wilson

Auckland, New Zealand