RAF and Army cuts at Yorkshire military bases must be reversed as Ukraine crisis escalates – Yorkshire Post Letters

From: Keith Massey, Bishopthorpe, York.

THE aggression and devastation inflicted on Ukraine by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin confirm all our fears about the man.

The UK has spent more than any other European country on defence relating to GDP, but we are all going to have to take the defence of our independent sovereign states far more seriously to preserve our freedoms and way of life.

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Here in Yorkshire I despair at the loss of military training of the Army and Royal Air Force. Surely it’s so short-sighted? When I started working for a Yorkshire newspaper in the 1960s, there was so much activity and interest for column inches with the military.

Should Army and RAF cuts be reversed as the Ukraine crisis intensifies?Should Army and RAF cuts be reversed as the Ukraine crisis intensifies?
Should Army and RAF cuts be reversed as the Ukraine crisis intensifies?

The Yorkshire skies were covered with aircraft. On air maps it was designated an AIAA (Area of Intense Aerial Activity). The RAF were operating and training pilots at Linton-on-Ouse, Church Fenton and Topcliffe with so many Jet Provosts (that I was fortunate to fly in many times) that satellite airfields at Elvington (previously used by the Americans) and Rufforth were used for circuit training.

Leeming was used for advance flying and Finningley had the Vulcan V-Bombers as a major nuclear attack deterrent during the Cold War period.

If the Ukraine invasion gets more out of hand – and let’s face it, Putin ordering the shelling of a nuclear plant send alarm bells ringing – Nato will have to respond when the British Army now has the smallest force in its history.

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The UK and Europe has been penny pinching on military spending too long and this must be corrected without delay. Wars still need boots on the ground and air superiority as well as hi-tech weaponry like missiles, drones and a nuclear deterrent. The MoD needs to have a rethink and consider opening up our Yorkshire military bases again.

Should Army and RAF cuts be reversed as the Ukraine crisis intensifies?Should Army and RAF cuts be reversed as the Ukraine crisis intensifies?
Should Army and RAF cuts be reversed as the Ukraine crisis intensifies?

From: Paul Morley, Long Preston, Skipton.

PERHAPS all those young fit men climbing out of rubber dinghies on the south coast should follow the example of young and middle-aged Ukrainian men.

The Ukrainians are sending their children and women out of the country whilst they stay behind to fight the horrors being inflicted on their people and country.

A much better course of action than the opposite way that the majority of male illegal immigrants do it, leaving their children and women behind to face the atrocities they say they are fleeing from. Shame on them.

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