MARY Ratcliffe is quite wrong to assume everyone thought of Sir Winston Churchill as a great man.

Much of what she writes is true but sadly, the truth is that, like most politicians, he could turn against "friends'' once they no longer suited his aims.

The prime example is RAF Bomber Command. His support for Air Marshal Harris and his crews knew no bounds between 1942 and 1945 until shortly after Dresden.

Harris did not want to attack Dresden and only did so on the direct orders of Churchill who, in turn, was under pressure from Stalin.

It was one raid too many and Churchill, one eye on the 1945 election, detected the public mood beginning to move away from the bombing campaign, so went chasing votes and moved against it too.

This left Air Marshal Harris to shoulder all the blame and his crews to be branded war criminals.

Sadly, he had not yet finished insulting the Bomber men and he allowed no campaign medal to be struck. This is still the case and reflects very badly on every Prime Minister and Sovereign since.

G Scott

Okus Road