Letter: Wimpish males no good for war

It is reported that our armed forces have dwindled to a worrying level, yet a call is going out to recruit young men – not to serve this country but to assist the Ukrainians in their conflict against Russia.

I would seriously question the wisdom of that because, at the moment, it’s not our war, but it surely will be if we deploy troops specifically to strengthen Ukrainian forces.

In any case, where are these recruits going to come from? We have bred a generation of wimpish males – ineffectual, irresponsible, over-protected absolute snowflakes who shed tears and need counselling if a cold wind blows on them or they decide that life isn’t fair.

They are so very fortunate in not knowing what war is all about.

I am reminded of a fairly recent incident when a friend, reaching his 90th birthday, was given a sumptuous lunchtime feast prepared by his family.

Somewhat overwhelmed, he made the mistake of commenting that everything on the table would have had to keep a small family going for a month in war-time, food-rationed Britain.

In all seriousness, a grandson replied “It was your fault for putting up with it all – you should have gone on demos!”. Demos? In the middle of a devastating war with bombs raining down on us night and day?

I would suggest that today’s young man doesn’t have the backbone, resilience, strength of purpose, discipline or anything else necessary to become a soldier. Perhaps a form of National Service needs to be reinstated to instill a sense of commitment and team-spirit so that this country could have people to rely on in case of need.

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