Remembering others

SIR – Each November, I not only remember my father, grandfathers and uncles who fought in both World Wars, but also my aunt Cai, the subject of Nevil Shute’s book A Town Like Alice. She was a young Dutch mother who led a group of other mothers and their children through the jungle in Indonesia, where they were stranded during the Second World War. Shute stayed at the Dutch Embassy in Canberra and heard her story. Early copies of the book are dedicated to Cai Vonck.

As a young woman I visited her, but sadly her wartime injuries took their toll and she died young.

Jacqueline Davies

Norton, Kent

SIR – The National Memorial Arboretum records the names of more than 16,000 servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of their country since the end of the Second World War. While Remembrance Sunday and November 11 were established to honour our dead from both World Wars, our armed services are ever ready to go into harm’s way. We will remember them. Alec Richardson

St Martin’s, Shropshire