Biscay, and off the Moroccan coast, and often to 

 bear some sort of a hand in their labours; and 

 during the long years that have passed since those 

 depressing Grimsby days I have never lost touch 

 with my friends of the North Sea and other fishing 

 regions. 



In story and historically I have tried to help the 

 world to realise what the deep sea fishers in par- 

 ticular are and what they have done. Twelve years 

 ago, in The Enemy in Our Midst, a title which has 

 proved useful since to many writers and speakers, 

 I told something of the horrors and devilries of a 

 German invasion of England and of the part which 

 North Sea fishermen played in the imaginary 

 struggle; and in North Sea Fishers and Fighters, 

 published long before the war broke out, I ventured 

 on prophecies, which have been fulfilled, of what 

 these men could do. 



And so now, in giving this book to a public which 

 has been magnanimously appreciative of courage 

 and endurance in every form, I have special pride 

 in feeling that I am doing at least something to 

 make the fishermen's work and devotion more fully 

 understood. In two cases the deep sea toilers speak 

 for themselves — the repatriated skipper and " Sub- 

 marine Billy." They related their experiences to 

 me when I saw them on the East coast, and after- 

 wards saw and approved of the typescripts of their 

 narratives. 



No man has a more profound admiration than I 

 have for the mighty, all-protecting work of the 

 British Navy, and I wish definitely to say that in 

 seeming to neglect purely naval deeds I am merely 

 canning out the special task I have in mind, and 

 that is to deal solely, and as completely as one may 

 under the restrictions which so rightly exist, with 

 the work of British fishermen in war-time. 



