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Sir: I was saddened though not surprised by the tone of General Horsford's account of his wartime experiences fighting against the Japanese invaders in Burma ('We were walking on Jap bodies', 8 July). He rightly condemns the mutilation of Gurkha corpses by the Japanese, but tells with pride how his own company of Gurkhas crept up on a unit of Japanese soldiers 'cowering in their trenches' and silently bayoneted them to death.
The 'cruellest enemy of them all'? I must confess it all happened long before I was born, just as the British invasion of Burma happened long before General Horsford was born. I can only assure the General that, 50 years on, the Japanese have trans- formed their country into the most peaceful advanced nation in the world. I have had many occasions to contrast the pleasant safety of my life in Japan with that of my home country, where Englishwomen fear rape from Englishmen, and Englishmen murder one another at football matches.
Andrew S. Rankin
3-12-2-101 Sendagi Bunlcyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan
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