VCs in Vietnam
Sir: Several of your readers have written helpfully following my criticism (Letters, 2 May) about the Queen's award of vcs to Australians fighting in the Vietnam war. Not so, Group Captain F. Baden King RAF (Ret'd) (Letters, 23 May).
Having had a vc in my family I would assure him I am fully aware of every aspect of the position bound up with the winning of this, the highest and exclusive gift of the monarch in the sphere under review.
In today's world, moral considerations impinge very heavily on all decisions in- volving the Queen. In view of this, to risk diminishing the significance of the vc through its conferment on those associated with what many British people regard as an unjust, if not evil, cause, is at least un- wise even if it does not involve Her Majesty in some embarrassment both here and abroad. In this moral context the Queen's recent refusal to receive a racially chosen South African cricket team, or to watch one of the tour matches if they took place, is relevant to my argument, and has been widely applauded.
Further, although this does not as yet affect the situation, it seems likely that the multiple sovereignties of the House of Windsor are bound to be increasingly affected by the separate policies each pur- sues. One of these already concerns the Vietnam war about which Britain and Aus- tralia have divergent views. There will be others, and I feel it would have been wise to recognise and act on this inevitable trend before the bestowal of Victoria Crosses be- comes, like racial sport, surrounded by such controversy as could cheapen the vcs trea- sured eminence among all other recognitions of bravery in the military field.
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