Sta,—Since Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart complains of alleged " un-
scrupulous exploitation " by Russian propagandists of the Americans' failure to go to the aid of the Czech insurgents in Prague in May, 1945, I might be permitted, perhaps, to remind him of his broadcast for the B.B.C. entitled Czechoslovakia Re-visited, printed in The Listener of June 19, 1947, in which he said: "The story of Czecho- slovakia's liberation is rather a sad one. In May, 1945, General Patton's army was within fifteen miles of Prague, and the Czechs, after sending him a message begging him to come at once, rose against the Germans. Unfortunately General PStton was under orders to remain where he was. The decision, whether military or political, was an American one. It was in all respects unfortunate, for it took the Russians five days to reach the city. More than 10,000 Czechs lost their lives need- lessly." As a matter of fact, the total losses sustained by the Czechs in the Prague rising were nothing like 10,000 but only 1,375, and it took the Russians three, not five, days to reach Prague.—Yours faithfully,
EDGAR P. YOUNG,
28 Gloucester Place, W.r. Commander, R.N.
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