4 AUGUST 1923, Page 14

LINKS WITH ThE PAST.

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.} Sin,—As a young soldier of about two years' service I was officially inspected by, and had a brief conversation with, an officer who had served at the blockade of Malta and surrender of Valetta in 1800. This was the late Sir John Burgoyne, who entered the Army in 1798. I finally quitted the Service in 1918.

When attached to the Bengal sappers and miners in India I made the acquaintance of Subadar-Major Huniman Singh, who wore the medal (among many other decorations) for the siege and capture of Bhurtpore in 1825-26. This fine old soldier could not have been much younger than Subadar Shaik Ibrahim, mentioned in General Tyrrell's letter.—