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I saw your item on Sir Nigel Cecil’s death.

He was an excellent Lieutenant Governor. I particularly remember going to see him about a lady in my constituency who had been a senior civil servant, and who had had her pension cancelled when she remarried (evidently it used to be the rule in Britain). Her second husband had died and left her hard up, unable to keep the house warm in winter.

I asked Sir Nigel if he could help, especially since she had been responsible for getting the 1944 invasion barges from Scotland to the south coast just in time, and had later been Secretary of the East African Heads of State committee.

‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘Just sit there and feed me the facts while I phone the UK.’

Which he did, for a whole morning, civil service administrators, politicians, London, Edinburgh, you name it.

Hours later he shook his head grimly, saying ‘I’m ashamed. They will not risk setting a precedent.’

It was not for want of trying and I was immensely impressed.

(We did manage to get a Manx supplementary pension for her, thanks goodness.)

David Moore, (ex MHK for Peel)

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This week’s Isle of Man Examiner included a letter from the Royal British Legion complaining that it had not received a response from Alfred Cannan MHK, the Treasury Minister.

The RBL contacted us to ask us to reproduce the letter

Thank you for your letter of the March 24.

I fully acknowledge the concerns that you have regarding the War Memorial. I want to reassure you that any proposals brought before the Treasury will be carefully scrutinised to ensure maximum protection and access is given to the War Memorial.

Hon. A L Cannan MHK, Minister for the Treasury

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For the past three and a bit years, I have had the privilege and pleasure of sharing some of my memories, experiences and opinions with those of you who not only buy the Manx Independent, but who also read the Pullyman column.

I have so far reached the grand old age of 76, and could reasonably describe myself as someone who has been around the block a few times.

If I express an opinion about something or someone, it is simply that. My opinion. In the words of the small print that introduces my column each week, ‘Life as seen through the eyes of Pullyman’.

During the course of an average week, I will bump into more than a few readers who are, by and large, generous with their support and comments, for which I thank them all.

I have also, on occasion, been mentioned in other places, which are not so complimentary, but are invariably anonymous.

But ‘hey ho, there you go.

In last week’s ‘Indy’, March 23, however, a contributor to the letters page had felt sufficiently aggrieved by one of my recent columns to put pen to paper and express his thoughts.

The letter was written by a Mr Richardson who was, and I quote, ‘both saddened and appalled by my crass display of ignorance, and my insulting and ill informed views towards the many osland servicemen who had taken part in recent world-wide conflicts’.

Unfortunately, Mr Richardson has completely missed the point of what I was trying to say.

Not for one second or by a single word was I belittling, dismissing or trivialising the sacrifices of any serviceman or woman, any civilian, citizen or innocent victim of any war or conflict anywhere in the world or at any point in time.

Since time began there has been conflict and war.

The First World War was to be the lesson that we would never forget.

I did not dismiss the Second World War in one paragraph or ignore the courage of all who fought for whatever cause.

I did not dismiss the deaths of millions of Jews, or the deaths of the innocent citizens of Coventry, Dresden or Nagasaki.

I was simply asking the question. ‘When will we ever learn?’

Michael Cowin, aka Pullyman, Groudle