Did victory at Minden lead to the loss of America?

SIR,-Having been educated surrounded by the military and other proud traditions of the  East India Company, I am very conscious of the pride that soldiers and their families have in the traditions and history of their regiments.
I have thus always hitherto hesitated to publicly state that the Battle of Minden, although successful in itself, was anything but one of Britain’s great achievements - for one of the Frenchmen killed that day on August 1, 1759, by English cannon shot fired from a gun battery under the command of William Phillips was Colonel Le Marquis de La Fayette whose 23 month-old son Gilbert - whom his father had never seen - subsequently vowed to avenge his father’s death.
And avenge his father’s death he most certainly did.
Although not born within the very top level of French aristocratic society, Gilbert de La Fayette became, following his father’s death, one of the wealthiest people in France and could boast a marshal of France (the equivalent of a British Field Marshal) and a mistress of Louis XIII amongst his forebears.
But more than that, the now fatherless - thanks to the Battle of Minden - Gilbert de La Fayette, when in his teens, went to America determined to assist the Americans in their fight for independence from Britain and became, amongst other things, a very close confidante of, personal military adviser to, and all-but-in-reality adopted son of the childless (except for step-children) George Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of the America’s army during its fight for independence from Britain and who became the first constitutional President of the United States.
Using his immense wealth, Gilbert was the funder of most of the wages of Washington’s otherwise near wageless army and the provider of most of the uniforms and equipment of that substantially under-equipped army.
He was also the originator of negotiations and chief negotiator with the French Navy, which provided considerable naval support to Washington in his, and his countrymen’s, determination to obtain, for America, independence from Britain.
Furthermore, in April 1781, in Maryland and Virginia, General (as was his rank within Washington’s Army) Gilbert de La Fayette, whose military skills had proved him to be an excellent tactician, had the personal pleasure, with only about 1000 men within his command, of harassing and entrapping the man - now a general - whose battery at Minden had killed his father.
But General Phillips’s overwhelming force of 2500 professional British troops enabled Phillips to escape the vengeance that La Fayette intended to wreak on him.
However, his escape from death was short-lived for on May 13, 1781, having contracted typhus, Phillips died in Petersburg, Virginia, and, as he lay dying, he suffered not only hearing the sounds of Gilbert de La Fayette’s cannons shelling his troops from the heights above but also a shell from one of La Fayette’s gun batteries striking the very house in which he lay.
“God,” Phillips exclaimed, “won’t that boy even let me die in peace?” Phillips never spoke another word.
So, whilst the Battle of Minden may, in itself, have been a glorious battle of which the King’s Own Scottish Borderers, its predecessor regiment, and its successor regiment can be rightfully proud, the Battle of Minden caused perhaps the greatest loss that Britain has ever suffered - the loss of its American colonies.

E SUTHERLAND-LOVEDAY
Berwick

Past agreements over Berwick should stand

SIR,-I have been following the recent letters on the situation of Berwick belonging to England or Scotland.
The chap from Australia seems more informed than many locals, who simply express sentiment in place of fact.
One even suggested independence and ‘bring it on’. Maybe he can clarify his meaning of independence - from who, England or Scotland?
However, several agreements have been made in the past, and the English failed to stand by these agreements - the English pushed the Scots of Berwick, with the assistance of other Scots, with a substantial number of deaths being incurred by the Scottish residents in Berwick.
If you examine the telephone directories you will see a large number of Scottish (anglicised) names, and this includes the whole of Northumberland, who could all be classed as traitors then.
To conclude matters now, we have someone from Spittal suggesting that possession is nine parts of the law, which is incorrect. If someone owns something and loses it, the finder is not legally entitled to retain it unless they conceal the fact.
So may I put this to the public of Berwick - for England to use Scottish soldiers in Ireland to eventually segregate Northern Ireland from southern Ireland, does that come under that possession being nine-tenths of the law?
Oh, please note that I am Scottish, (I am not a Catholic, who, in my opinion, are still being discriminated against in Britain) and my younger and late brother was born in Spittal.
Please note that I do not, and never have, supported the IRA or their methods, nor the way governments of this country have handled the situation in Ireland, as they have instilled a religious hatred that will take a very, very long time to be removed.
As for Mr Tony Blair (English) who seems to have conducted secret negotiations with the IRA, (which may have involved Gordon Brown - Scottish - from what little I have heard, any other person would have been cited for treason.
They have dismissed the deaths of a considerable number of people, yet they have released some of these IRA killers, and they have found against the troops, who were sent there by the government to control the situation, for Bloody Sunday.
My great, great, great grandfather was a tallow chandler in Castlegate (he made and sold candles) in the 1700s (an important business in those days), but I wonder what happened to his business, property, family and relatives, because my family and other relatives who survived may still have a rightful claim against England.
If Berwickers believe they would be better off being independent then good luck to them, let them get on with it - ‘bring it on’. But, personally, I would prefer a border, with Berwick being totally cut off and the only way out by sea.
Berwick is dying now, so how is being independent going to help? The only businesses that survive are those that tow the line.
Berwick-upon-Tweed has a Scottish postcode which covers a large part of Northumberland, practically down to Alnwick and across to Wooler and Kelso.
So, is Berwick in England? Answer, no, I don’t think so. An agreement is still an agreement, and force doesn’t enter into the equation.

E PATTERSON-LOUGH
Chirnside

Box clever to keep young folk out of trouble

SIR,-What is there in Berwick and Tweedmouth for the youths to do now the schools are finished and on holiday?
Well, I am a 21 year-old man looking for activities to do in Berwick when finished work, so I went out looking for a local boxing club. The closest one to the town is in Chirnside.
When I was younger I was looking for stuff to do but there was not much for teenagers. This made me get mixed in with the wrong crowd and it took me 15 months to get away from my so-called mates and out of trouble and back on the straight and narrow.
Then I got the chance to take part in some boxing - a popular sport with boys and girls of all ages.
My point in this letter is to see if there are any ex-boxers or trainers willing to start a new trend in this small town and help the youths get off the streets and out of trouble and away from the drug scene.
If we, the adults, don’t help by giving them activities, what will happen is the police will get involved and move them and start issuing anti-social behaviour orders which will give them a criminal record and even less chance of getting off the streets - who would want that?

RYAN MCCLUSKY
Berwick

Diversity is the key to new Wooler store

SIR,-May I correct Mr J Bullock (Postbag, July 15). The ‘old Co-op,’ now a clothes shop, was bought by the Co-op from the then Glendale Stores.
The present Co-op was Walter Wilson’s, then Alldays, and was then purchased by the Co-op. The Co-op that closed was owned by them for years - I should know, I worked in it for 15 years.
Before becoming the Co-op, it was, in Wooler and Berwick, the Tweedside Store.
With regard to another outlet in the town, that would be fine, but not a food store. We need to diversify - soft furnishing, shoes, lighting, TVs etc are just a few ideas.
One thing I do agree with is that it would improve the site 100 per cent.

SHEENA RUSSELL
Wooler