SIR - I refer to John Phillpott's Seven Days article headlined "Soldier's tragic death leaves a weeping wound (Worcester News, February 6, 2006).

Sergeant John Wall was never accused of having abandoned his rifle, not even when he and his comrades were trapped on the crest of Bellewarde Ridge, Belgium, by artillery fire, probably discharged by British guns. His rifle was still in his hand when he reported himself present at the end of a bloody fiasco that was subsequently dignified by British commanders as an attack on enemy positions near Ypres.

Nor is the claim that Wall 'lost his nerve' substantiated by this NCO's outstanding record of military service or the written proceedings of his court martial.

The Shot at Dawn campaign seeks pardons only for the 306 soldiers who were shot for military offences and not those who were executed for mutiny or murder.

Because successive British governments have refused to allow any public scrutiny of these killings until just over a decade ago, there has been no opportunity to analyse and evaluate the original written proceedings of the courts martial - far from history 're-written', many of these men's dossiers have never been independently appraised.

JULIAN PUTKOWSKI,

Co-author Shot At Dawn (Pen & Sword Books).

Mr Putkowski is quite correct regarding the circumstances that led to Sgt Wall's court martial. John Phillpott was in error on this occasion. Letters Editor.