SIR – I agree with Colonel Tim Collins, who describes the infantry as “no place for a woman”.
I understand that the Israeli Army put women in the front line in some of their units during the Six-Day War, but that the losses among their men in those units were larger than expected because the men were taking greater risks in order to protect the women.
We need to base this experiment, if such it is, on the real experiences, in battle situations, of forces that have tried putting women in the front line.
Edward Prince
Edinburgh
SIR – Colonel Collins makes a number of cogent observations on the consequences of introducing women into the infantry.
He fails, however, to mention the likely effect on sub-unit cohesion. At the forward edge of battle, the resolve and determination of the small teams that comprise infantry sections and tank and support weapon crews are critical.
Yet for the most part soldiers are young men. Introducing women into the sub-unit would result in different relationships developing, affecting camaraderie and team cohesion. Those who have never experienced the realities of close combat, yet seem ready to pander to small special-interest lobbies, have no comprehension of the potentially adverse consequences.
That women don’t lack for courage or stamina is beyond question, but the issue of mixing goes much deeper than this. If enough women want to commit to the hazards of combat, perhaps the answer is to form all-women infantry and armoured units.
Lt Col G P G Robinson (retd)
Andover, Hampshire
Care in crisis
SIR – It is disappointing but not surprising that a report by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services has found that the National Living Wage has left English councils searching for an extra £600 million.
The care-home sector looks after 400,000 vulnerable older people. Despite our ageing population, with more and more people needing support, care homes are closing due to impossibly low fees. Unless the Government addresses the shortfall in funding, there will be a crisis in how we look after elderly people.
Leading care providers have been campaigning on this for a long time, and we are urging the Government to create a fast-track discharge fund to help older people into care homes and free up NHS beds.
We are already sleepwalking into a crisis – and if nothing is done soon, it will spiral further out of control.
John Ransford
Non-Executive Director, HC-One
Darlington, Co Durham
Too cruel for sport
SIR – You report on the Spanish matador recently killed in a bullfight.
I went to a bullfight in Spain the late Eighties, not out of enthusiasm but simply to see what it was about. I left after the second bull was killed. It had suffered a few attempts by the matador to insert his sword in its neck before he was successful in doing so. The animal had rushed into the ring with everything stacked against it.
Is this sport? I do not think so. I know it is a national event in Spain, but it is barbaric and has to stop.
Daniel Baird
Ballymoney, Co Antrim
