19 JANUARY 1991, Page 22

LETTERS Remember 1944

Sir: In his article on the Gulf (`The instrument of catastrophe', 12 January), John Keegan draws comparison with the Normandy battle in 1944, but I wonder if he can get away with it. 'Air power . . . will still prove the decisive factor . . . ground air defences will be overwhelmed in a few days, perhaps a few hours, of fighting.'

In 1944 the Allies had not only total air superiority, they had unlimited supplies of men and materiel; they were up against an enemy which was badly prepared; Rommel was missing at several key moments; Ger- many had been carpet-bombed at will; Hitler was hiring and firing generals daily, was fighting on two fronts, was short of men,ammunition, fuel etc . . . and it took us a year to get from Normandy to Berlin. Bill Thomson

Flat 6, 7 Riverview Drive, The Waterfront, Glasgow