AS a descendant of General Buller, I am dismayed that his statue in Exeter might be removed.

I strongly believe that history should not be destroyed (or somehow rewritten) in this way.

There have been many falsehoods circulated about him in recent months, the truth should be known.

It has wrongly been reported that he started concentration camps during the Second Boer War.

This is completely false, he had left South Africa before they started, he was not party to the policy, he would have strongly opposed it.

He was on the side of the men. Whilst at the War Office, he created the first proper Army Service Corps, the forerunner of the Royal Logistics Corps, helping to ensure that his soldiers were always well looked after during wartime.

Posted to Ireland in the 1880s as Special Commissioner, he positioned himself on the side of tenants over rich landowners who were trying to squeeze every penny, with eviction as their ultimate weapon.

His approach was not welcomed by the government. Throughout his life, he showed great sympathy for the underdog.

He served his country as a soldier from 1858 to 1901. Known as the “People’s General”, he was adored by his soldiers, he always put them first.

The Exeter statue was paid for by the public. Unusual in those days, it was erected during his lifetime, such was the love felt for him.

In his retirement, he took a keen interest in schooling through membership of the County Education Committee. On his death it was said of him that “his secret lay in his power of sympathy, and in his love for and fellow-feeling with those around and below him”.

I can see no reason to see him gone. He should be allowed to stay.

Henry Parker

Downes

Crediton