5 JULY 1940, Page 18

PRESCRIPTION FOR VICTORY

SIR,—Apropos of " Strategicus's " comments on Marshal Petain's apology, it is worth recalling a story told by Julien Benda in Un Regulier dans le Siècle. Someone asked General Mangin (it was about 1904) what would determine the victory in the next war. "I shall never forget," writes Benda, "the tone in which he replied, as if indignant that the question could even be asked: 'It is always the same: moral force.' "—Yours faithfully, FELDC FRIES. 91 Prebend Gardens, London, W. 6.