11 OCTOBER 2003, Page 40

In their warp aint

From Gerard Henry Sir: When tempted to share Michael Heath's mockery of 'Bunny' as a male appellation (Diary, 4 October), I recall an obituary that appeared a few years ago of the fashion designer Bunny Roger. As an infantry officer in the second world war, he always went into battle wearing full makeup (I'm not sure about women's underwear). At some stage of the campaign in Italy he disobeyed an order to withdraw at once and chose to advance under fire to rescue a wounded comrade and bring him back to safety.

Parenthetically, I recall reading the late Colin Welch saying that in the AustroHungarian army make-up could not be worn by anyone under field rank.

Gerard Henry London SW6