THE RED TRIANGLE AND THE WHITE ENSIGN
Surely the Almighty God does not intend this war
to be just a hideous fracas, a bloody, drunken
orgy. There must be purpose in it all; improvement
must be born out of it. In what direction? France
has already shown us the way, and has risen out of
her ruined cities with a revival of religion that
is most wonderful. England still remains to be dug
out of the stupor of self-satisfaction and
complacency which the great and flourishing
condition has steeped her in. And until she can be
stirred out of this condition, until a religious
revival takes place at home, just so long will the
war continue. When she can look on the future with
humbler eyes and a prayer on her lips, then we can
begin to count the days towards the end.--ADMIRAL
SIR DAVID BEATTY, K.C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O., K.C.V.O.
[Illustration: Y.M.C.A. IN THE FRONT-LINE DUG-OUTS ON THE PALESTINE
FRONT]
THIS chapter is written in a 'sleeper' at the close of a busy day in the
North. The day has been made a memorable one by a visit to the _Queen
Elizabeth_, as she lay at her moorings in one of our great naval bases.
She is one of the greatest instruments of war in the world, and it was a
revelation to enter one of the gun turrets of the super-dreadnought, to
look through the periscope, or see the ingenious mechanism that moved
those mighty guns, and lifts into position the huge projectile that is
capable of delivering death and destruction to an enemy many miles away.
It was more than interesting to visit the wireless rooms, where
ceaseless watch is kept by day and night, and to see the wonderful
orderliness of everything, and to note that every one on board was
ready, and their only fear that the German Fleet might never be tempted
out again. The visit to the _Queen Elizabeth_ left one thinking of the
service the Red Triangle has been able to render to the White Ensign.
During the war there are not as many opportunities for work amongst
naval men as in peace time, but there is all the more need that when
the men are ashore everything that is possible should be done for them.
The Scottish National Council have up-to-date well-equipped hostels and
recreation-rooms in several naval centres, and those at Edinburgh and
Glasgow are thronged with bluejackets. South of the Border there are
many fine hostels and recreation-rooms for sailors, and in scores of
centres in England, Wales, and Ireland the Red Triangle is catering
successfully for the needs of our bluejackets. The biggest crowd of all
is to be found in the quarters occupied by the Y.M.C.A. at the Crystal
Palace, where thousands of men every day use the Y.M.C.A. as their club,
and find in it their home. We shall never know all we owe to our
splendid Navy, and that debt can never be fully paid. At the close of
the war we are planning to erect permanent hostels and institutes for
sailors in several naval bases at home and in some of the great foreign
stations. Much appreciated war work for sailors is being carried on now
at Brindisi and Taranto, for the men of the drifters employed on
minesweeping in the Mediterranean, also at Malta, Mudros, and other
centres overseas.
[Illustration: Y.M.C.A. DUG-OUT AND CANTEEN ON PALESTINE FRONT]
A demand for a Y.M.C.A. on a battleship came from the men of H.M.S.
_Conqueror_, and it has been found most helpful.
Many isolated naval stations round the British coast are supplied with
cabinets, each one containing a gramophone, library, a supply of writing
materials, and games. For obvious reasons it would be imprudent whilst
the war is on to indicate the centres by name in which the Red Triangle
is serving the men of the Navy, but there will be a great story to tell
when the war is over.