LEO MCKINSTRY: These days the Army is a shadow of its former self with its current headcount of just 74,000 regular soldiers, meaning that it is at its lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.
The RAF now has one of the smallest combat fleets in history, while the British Army looks set to drop below 70,000 for the first time since the Napoleonic era.
A hidden letter in the room of Jaysley Beck, 19, who was subjected to a torrid campaign of sexual abuse by four superior male squaddies which contributed to her suicide, helped her get justice.
No fewer than four of Gunner Jaysley-Louise Beck's superiors, all older and one more than twice her age, would see her kind and friendly nature as an open invitation for their predatory instincts.