3 JANUARY 1941, Page 9

I have seen (in the Daily Telegraph), only one mention

of and no comment on, a rather remarkable message from the Board of Admiralty recently promulgated in Fleet Orders. In it the Board, " in the conviction that the present war is a struggle between good and evil, and that in the practice of the Christian religion may be found today the same support experienced by our forefathers in establishing in the Royal Navy those ideals of service and sacrifice we have inherited," empha- sise the importance of holding divine service and prayers on warships as regularly as circumstances permit, and further direct " that in battleships and cruisers all possible steps should be taken to provide a space set apart for the worship of God." This, it is to be noted, comes from the Board of Admiralty itself, not from any Naval Chaplain's department. It would be interesting to know from whom the original suggestion emanated. There is little doubt that the present First Lord is in full sympathy with it.

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