Letter: Tough justice in the trenches

Sir: You quote the historian, Julian Putkowski, who says that"the officers knew the men they were sentencing to death were too young and should simply have been sent home" ("Army firing squads killed boy soldiers", 28 May). Had this been done, how many soldiers would have claimed that they were under age - truly or falsely - and applied to be sent home?

Surely it was those officers who knowingly recruited under-age soldiers and posted them to France who were most to blame. It would be interesting to know how many youngsters failed to get into the Army because of the vigilance of recruiting officers.

LEO HAYNES

Northwood, Middlesex