SIR – I could not resist a grin when I saw your pictures of an air raid warden re-enactment. It reminded me of one of the early wartime classes.

A rather posh, but otherwise impractical woman had difficulty in understanding the intricacies of a stirrup pump. The instructor was swift to notice she had put the wrong end into the pail of water.

“That is the part you put your foot on,” he explained.

I shall never forget the look of horror as she plunged her foot into the icy water to place it on the stirrup.

JOHN HINTON,

Worcester.