From Mr Charles Watson Sir: The National Army Museum ('How
to militarise your child', 24 March) was the brainchild of Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer, KT, who will perhaps mainly be remembered for being responsible for putting down the Malayan terrorist uprising in the 1950s.
Working from a tiny City office, as then chairman of the British Metal Corporation, and with only the help of his long-suffering secretary, Sir Gerald (in addition to his many public duties and other work) raised all the necessary finance for the National Army Museum almost singlehandedly, using a combination of persuasion, cajolery and charm. He wrote endless letters to anyone and everyone likely to help. As Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex, and therefore responsible for handing out the Queen's Awards for Industry to companies in a large part of London, the initially delighted recipients would often find there was a sting in the tail!
Political correctness was not a phrase known to Sir Gerald, and I, as a junior executive, found that working for him was an experience in itself, but never dull. We all lived the highs and lows of the embryonic National Army Museum, but the delight with which every fundraising success was greeted was highly infectious, ending with the museum's construction and triumphant opening by the Queen in 1971.
It is very much to be hoped that Andrew Roberts's excellent article will inspire many more people to visit the museum. We owe a great debt to the Field Marshal, who would, indeed, have relished Bronco Lane's bequest of his frostbitten extremities to his cherished museum!
Charles Watson
Sherbome, Dorset
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