AN INTERESTING POINT ,IS that at no time in his
career had he signed any document promising to serve for any length of time. But there is simply no way in which he can leave the service honourably—though there are, of course, innumerable ways in which he could leave it by making a nuisance of himself, a method which would naturally involve some risk. As it is, his attitude has become one of bitterness and frustration; no matter how adequately he does his work, he cannot but be a bad influence on his contemporaries, and on the men serving under him. I find it hard to believe that the navy can only survive by holding onto its officers after the fashion of the press gang. Is there no way in which an officer or rating who has lost his vocation can leave? Particularly when he joined the navy at an age when nobody could be sure where his true vocation lies?
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