Once children have learnt the 43 different letter sounds and combinations used in the British language, they move on to understanding the meaning of the words they see.According to the study of schools in Clackmannanshire, within a year they are seven months ahead of fellow pupils using a different range of methods to learn how to read. And so it is to be hoped that their British officers will get a better deal on the 60th anniversary of VJ day in August."Stand At East", presented by Sir Mark Tully, begins on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow at 10.30am.. At the Indian Military Academy, founded as the Sandhurst of India, and at the regimental centre of the Rajputana Rifles, I watched officer cadets and soldiers marching off the parade ground to "Auld Lang Syne".Yet, when the war was over, the regular officers - who had established that unique bond with Indian soldiers and founded the traditions of the Indian army - were told they were not good enough to join British infantry regiments. During the parade celebrating the 50th anniversary of VJ Day, Bill Adams,

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a veteran of the Bengal Sappers and Miners, found himself shunted into a side alley where he couldn't see anything until he joined the procession almost at the back.Since then, gates commemorating the soldiers of British India, Nepal, Africa and the Caribbean, who all fought for the Allies, have been erected on Constitution Hill in London. In the war cemetery on a hillside in Kohima is the oft-quoted inscription: "When you go home, tell them of us and say: for your tomorrow, we gave our today."Today, the regimental traditions which underpinned the Indian army through all its disasters and ultimate victory are remembered by its successors, the armies of India and Pakistan. It was the turning point in the Burma campaign.Plenty of fighting followed before the Japanese suffered their largest defeat on land - and the Indian army played a major role in that too. They laid siege to the towns of Imphal and Kohima and closed the road supplying them At one stage the Japanese were in the heart of Kohima.

The tennis court of the deputy commissioner's bungalow became no man's land.And the Japanese were forced back from Imphal and Kohima. Five of their divisions were destroyed as effective fighting forces. But within months the Indian army was back in Arakan, this time successfully.Gurkhas took part in the Chindits penetration behind the Japanese lines in Burma, which was among the most original, courageous, and hard-fought of all operations in the war. They flew into Burma in gliders and disrupted Japanese communications.

Yet, when they had to withdraw, exhausted and starving, the American general "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell implied they were malingerers.Eventually the Japanese launched an attack they hoped would destroy British defences on the Indo-Burma border. The retreat over the Sittang river followed when two brigades were stranded on the wrong side because orders to blow up the bridge were given prematurely Then Rangoon was abandoned. After that Indian and British soldiers retreated for nearly a thousand miles, fighting all the way through thick jungle and crossing high mountain passes. Yet when they reached India they were treated as though they were in disgrace. But his army had little or no impact on the fighting in Burma and he did not undermine the morale of the Indian army itself.The Indian army's morale was severely strained by the defeats in Burma that followed the fall of Singapore. He described that operation as "disgraceful" and called for it to be cut back. As he watched the rearguard march into India, he said: "All of them - British, Indian and Gurkha - were gaunt and ragged as scarecrows, yet they still carried their arms and kept their ranks They were still recognisable as fighting units.