Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 7, 2019 Page 55
DEBATE
JOHN CLEESE says stem cell therapy keeps
him young. Should have gone to Specsavers.
GERRY DOYLE, Liverpool.
IF LEONARDO DiCaprio and Tom Cruise are
fighting climate change, it’s bound to have a
good ending and possibly a sequel.
BILL NAYLOR, Wilsford, Lincs.
AT LAST, someone who commands respect
has spoken the truth about the biggest danger
facing this planet, namely Prince Harry and his
concern about overpopulation.
ROBERT BISHOP, Billingshurst, W. Sussex.
HOW refreshing that police on the Algarve
are taking a no nonsense approach to
drunken louts. If only ours would be so tough
on crime and disorders.
M. SOUTHON, Ferndown, Dorset.
THE Lib Dems won the by-election because
the other Remain parties stood down and the
Brexit Party stood up. Boris beware!
JOHN COLLINS, Chelmsford, Essex.
PAUL HOLLYWOOD, you can’t have your
cake and eat it. And it’s going to cost you a lot
of dough!
BEN HIGGS, Aylesbury, Bucks.
I’D LIKE to reassure Paul Hollywood’s
ex-wife Alex that there are decent men out
there who would treat her like a goddess.
IAN VEITCH, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear.
WHAT are senior police ranks doing
(Letters)? Sitting in their comfy leather swivel
chairs counting down the days until they can
claim their inflated pensions.
DAVID PITT, Boxley, Kent.÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷Straight to the
POINT
FOR permission to copy cuttings for internal management and information
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101, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1WX. Tel: 01892 525273. e-mail: [email protected]Is Radio 2 a big turn-off for listeners?
I’M NOT surprised Zoe Ball has lost
780,000 listeners since taking over
from Chris Evans. She sounds like
an excitable five-year-old. I want
to listen to an interesting adult.
T. JERAM, London SE6.
I DISAGREE with Jan Moir’s harsh
criticism of BBC Radio 2’s Zoe Ball
Breakfast Show. Zoe’s cheerful and
friendly approach brightens my
morning. I find her jokes amusing
and enjoy the bubbly chart hits.
Unlike the morning programmes on
Radios 1 and 4, the Breakfast Show
doesn’t take itself too seriously.
KEELEY-JASMINE CAVENDISH,
London SE21.ZOE BALL talks over her guests, her
stock phrase ‘soooooo excitin’ is a
big turn-off and her gabbling
accelerates at an alarming pace
the more excited she becomes.
WILLEM C. HART, Southampton.
RADIO 2 used to be always on in my
house. Terry Wogan and Jimmy
Young didn’t have the approach of
‘listen to me, aren’t I fabulous’, it
was ‘let me entertain you with great
music and conversation’. Radio 1
used to cater for younger listeners
and Radio 2 for the more mature,
but now there is little difference. I
rarely tune into Radio 2 any more.
R. LARKIN, Wadhurst, E. Sussex.I DESPAIRED of Chris Evans and now
Zoe Ball is just as shouty, which we
do not need in the morning.
The show has too many so-called
celebs flogging their new book/
film/TV show. Why change the
format to appeal to the young who
don’t even listen to Radio 2?
M. SAMPSON, Eastbourne, E. Sussex.
I’VE had enough of Zoe Ball and
now listen to Radio 2 only at the
weekends. As female presenters go,
Janey Lee Grace, who covers for
Steve Wright, has a soothing voice
and would be an asset to Radio 2’s
morning show.
MIKE JONES, South Witham, Lincs.It looks like history is going to
repeat itself.
DAVID DILLON,
Bicester, Oxon.Test all drivers
OF COURSE over-70 drivers
should be subjected to an eye
sight test every three years —
and so should everyone else
who holds a driving licence.
Failing eyesight is normally a
progressive deterioration.
Many drivers below the age of
70 have poor eyesight, but do
not realise it.
PHILIP LEWIS,
Aldwick, W. Sussex.Pass on your perks
THE free TV licence is to be
scrapped and the Christmas
bonus and winter fuel pay-
ment have been described as
irrelevant to pensioners.
I realise some people are on
exceedingly good private
pensions and use their state
pension to stock their winecellar. Could I suggest they
donate it to those who depend
on these meagre perks?
ALAN HOLYLAND,
Manningtree, Essex.Fairway to Hell?
THENCE Jesus chose a Ping
9-iron to chip in to the font,
from the windmill, and the
multitude didst cheer greatly.
However, the Devil, armed
with his Titleist Vokey lob
wedge, struck a blow for dark-
ness by landing his ball, froma very difficult lie in the lap of
the bishop’s wife, straight
through the door of the light-
house and into the hole.
The Devil hath all the best
tunes while the Church of
England, in allowing crazy golf
in Rochester Cathedral, has
all the gear, but no idea.
PAUL CHARLES COOK,
Huddersfield, W. Yorks.Bland beauties
HOW on earth do some
women look better as theyget older (Inspire)? The
answer is staring you in the
face: an endless pit of money
and the time and leisure to
spend on themselves.
Those of us who have neither
wear our lives on our faces —
the loves and losses are shown
in each crease and wrinkle.
However, unlike the likes of
Jennifer Aniston, Sarah
Jessica Parker and Julia
Roberts, we are neither bland
nor boring.
Mrs BELINDA BELAIRE,
London NW6.WIN our Letter Of The Week Magic Mug, courtesy of
Printer Pix. These reveal our Daily Mail Letter Of The
Week design when hot. To create personalised photo gifts
(see example, right), visit printerpix.co.uk. The Letters
Editor will announce the Letter Of The Week each Friday.
Write to: Daily Mail, Letters, 2 Derry Street, Kensington,
London, W8 5TT, email [email protected] or fax onLETTER OF THE WEEK
020 7937 7493, including
your full postal address
and telephone number.War service: Hugh Bruce Powell
as a young soldier and todayAS THE 80th anniversary approaches
of the deployment to France in
September 1939 of the British
Expeditionary Force, my 101-year-old
former Royal Army Ordnance Corps
father Hugh Bruce Powell is
campaigning for the dwindling band
of BEF veterans to be granted a clasp
to the 1939-45 War Star.
Bomber Command veterans got theirs
in 2013 after a 67-year wait, but those
who served with distinction in France
in the 1939/40 British Expeditionary
Force are still waiting.
At the outbreak of war, my father was
serving in the Light Aid Detachment to
the newly horseless 5th Royal
Inniskilling Dragoon Guards.
He has many memories of charging
around the French countryside on his
motorbike changing Vickers tank
batteries and repairing tracks.
He contracted meningitis when living
in unsanitary conditions with his unit
on Vimy Ridge and was invalided to
the General Hospital in Dieppe in late
April 1940. He was treated with
penicillin, which was as scarce as
diamond dust and had just been made
available to troops by the Americans.
With other patients, he was evacuated
to the UK shortly after the German
breakthrough on May 10, 1940.
He went on to learn about radar at the
School of Mines in Treforest, near
Pontypridd, going on to serve with the
62nd (Hull) Heavy Ack-Ack Regiment.
Half of the regiment sailed from
Southampton in November 1942 on the
Strathallan, which was torpedoed.Mercifully, Dad was shipped out on the
Monarch of Bermuda without incident
following the granting of 48 hours’
special leave, during which, by means
of only tuppence and a quayside
telephone kiosk, he proposed to and
married my mother.
He served with the regiment through
North Africa and Italy, becoming afounding member of REME on October
1, 1942. He was demobbed in January
1946 and joined the Civil Service,
working in the UK and New Zealand
in support of the Royal Navy and the
Royal New Zealand Navy.
No medal was struck to honour the
BEF’s service in France in 1939/40 —
they were simply permitted to add this
to other war service towards the award
of the 1939-45 War Star. Those who
served in France between June 6, 1944
and May 8, 1945 are also entitled to the
France and Germany Star, as well as
the Legion d’Honneur awarded by the
French. I wrote to President Macron,
in my best French, suggesting that
since we rescued at Dunkirk the
nucleus of what was to form the Free
French Army, which de Gaulle led
triumphantly into Paris in 1944, he
ought to extend the award of the
Legion d’Honneur to the few
remaining members of the BEF.
I am still waiting for a reply.
If the MoD can’t be persuaded to
supply a new clasp to the 1939-45 War
Star for the BEF, we may need to put
forward the case to extend eligibility
for the France and Germany Star to all
those who served in France at any
stage of World War II.
My father’s campaign, petition.
parliament.uk/petitions/242090, needs
10,000 signatures by August 27 for the
Government to respond. If it receives
100,000, it will be considered for debate
in Parliament.
TREVOR POWELL (Lt Col retd),
Westbury, Wilts.Hero still waiting
for honour at 101
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