I HAVE heard from an old friend of mine, who served with the British Army for many years and was once a Colonel in the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR), that there is some doubt as to the future of the regiment.

I was fortunate to be a member of the QLR's allied regiment, the Princess of Wales' Own, in Canada, and would like to put in a good word for my allies.

I think that it would be a short-sighted, horrible mistake in judgement to dissolve this fine regiment and many of the other British regiments, as the Government is planning.

I know that I should mind my own business, but, with British roots as deeply imbedded in my country as they are, I feel that I am a family member offering my two cents worth.

It is almost impossible to rebuild a regiment such as the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and virtually impossible to replace it. How do you replace 300 years of history and tradition? How does one go about establishing the esprit de corps that presently exists?

Surely the British government, with all of its important overseas commitments, cannot be so short-sighted as to gut its army, as our Canadian government has done. I hope not.

We now live with the consequences of putting questionable financial considerations ahead of ensuring the security of our country and depend, to a large extent, on our neighbour to the south.

How would Britons feel about having to call on the Germans or the French in times of national emergency to assist with security?

I pray that cooler heads will prevail and this threatened downsizing of the British Army and the forced extinction of many fine regiments, including the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, will come to naught.

Michael E. Shultz, Lieutenant Colonel (ret), Canada.