I used to say, "Isn't it time we all moved on?" like Charles Holcombe (Letters, January 24).
Then, five years ago, I discovered my close personal connection with RAF fighter pilot Keith Gillman. Keith was 19 years old when he was reported missing, presumed killed, over the English Channel in August 1940.
Research for the book I am writing about him changed my previous view that the Nazi threat was so long ago we should now forget about it.
Keith and his fellow pilots weren't fighting so much for King and country as for freedom in its real sense - to be and say whatever you like without state, political or ideological interference.
That threat remains today. We need to stay vigilant and Mr Holcombe should remember, "Those who don't learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them." And that's no joke.
-Nick Gilman, Lewes
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