Here's the middle part of that Guardian letter, which went missing en route(it'll probabaly turn up nowe, having gone some peculiar route to get there)

They lived through the worst century on record, fought and struggled through devastating wars, invasion, bombardment and against the worst kinds of ideological enemies. They won, and they set to work reconstructing Britain with at least a shot at justice.

My own peer group are pygmies by comparison, and we have feebly created a dangerous and soulless world for our own offspring to inherit. The old woman who died aged 101 was of that extraordinary generation. The role she played was forced upon her by circumstances and coincidences. She acquitted herself well - much better than any of my own contemporaries I can think of, or anyone at all in the upcoming bunch.