Bombay fix Sir: Sarmila Bose ('Enough guilt for every- one',
19 August) states that unarmed crowds in India were machine-gunned from the air in 1942, when Gandhi launched the 'Quit India' movement.
At that time, I was in command of RAF Station, Juhu, the base of the only aircraft in the Bombay area, where Congress initi- ated their action. I should therefore know something about this aerial brutality.
Sadly, I have to admit that all trace of it has slipped my mind. But what I do recall is the action taken by Sarmila Bose's great-uncle, Chandra Bose, in his cam- paign for Indian independence. He thought the Muslims were opposed to his campaign, so he lined up a thousand of them on Juhu beach and then plucked out the eyes of every single one of them. It took him four hours.
By coincidence I have this fact from the very same eye-witness who saw the RAF machine-gunning those unarmed crowds that Ms Bose mentioned.
Terence O'Brien
'Innisfree', Seal Square, Selsey
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