On the subject of women in wartime, perhaps I could beg a few inches of space to pay a tribute to my late mother.

In 1940 the Luftwaffe bombed the Southampton gasworks with the result that no gas was available for cooking for a period of some months.

However, with the aid of a 'primus' stove and what I believe is called a 'trivet' on the dining room fire, she succeeded in providing two hot meals a day for my father and myself.

I do, however, remember eating an awful lot of stew at this time.

Mike Usherwood,

Mendip Close,

Huntington,

York.

Updated: 08:51 Saturday, July 16, 2005