Sut,—May I, as a National Serviceman serving in Germany; comment
on the article Rhine Army Today in the August 17th issue. It was an excellent article in the main but I would like to comment on three of the points raised. As a result of the switch from occupation to training duties- and the evacuation from the cities to the smaller towns, there is less for the men to do—that is, in their own time. The only entertainment in most camps is the N.A.A.F.I. canteen and in the larger towns an Army cinema with three or four •programmes a week. in the smaller towns- or where there are only one or two units there is no cinema and no organised entertainment.
Having to find one's own entertainment, and especially during the winter, one naturally sees what the Germans have to offer. And to enjoy it one must have Deutschmarks. Though the rate of exchange is fairly reasonable, the rate on the black market is better and petty black marketing flourishes. Grope are the days of wholesale " flogging " of petrol, engines and tyres, but the selling of cigarettes, and coffee is nowhere near wiped out. The other disagreement is with the sentence, "For it means that most National Servicemen have a fireside—a British fireside—to which they can go." I.have yet to come across one instance of that happening. The majority of married families are senior N.C.O.s and officers. All married families are Regulars ; we are N.S. men.
Perhaps that is the reason why.—Yours faithfully, R. P. [Since the writers of .these two letters are serving soldiers their names and ranks are not published.—En., Sped.]
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