THE FOURTH YEAR 



barred danger-zones. Heavy fines were imposed ; 

 but it was only by imprisonment or the threat of it 

 that the disobedience was cured. 



Taken altogether, the naval and the fishing forces 

 worked in harmony, showing a striking interde- 

 pendence. Without the protection of the Navy it 

 would have been impossible for the fishers to work ; 

 without the help of the fishers, who had turned 

 sweepers and other trawler ratings, it would have 

 been equally impossible for the Navy to operate suc- 

 cessfully. Regulations were in force which had the 

 double purpose of protecting the fisherman and 

 enabling him to cany on his work in the utmost 

 possible security, for his own benefit and the wel- 

 fare of the nation. 



There were in the fourth year of war skippers and 

 men who had been consistent^ sweeping or patrol- 

 ling since the war began. For three long years they 

 had done their work in circumstances of peril and 

 discomfort which had never been equalled. Many 

 home ties had been completely severed, and, with 

 something of a dull fatalism, men had settled down 

 to the inevitable. 



In the old days of peace, which seemed so vision- 

 ary, a man had been able to get a look at his home 

 and family once in a long month or so. That was 

 when he sailed from home for the fleet ; he was 

 somewhat luckier if he went single-boating, even to 

 Iceland or the White Sea. 



But the war changed all that, and the man who 

 had gone off for a six days' trip found himself at 



233 



