4 APRIL 1941, Page 5

An English girl of twelve, hospitably taken in by a

Boston family, and sent by them to one of the most select schools in that select city, was required, in common with the rest of her class, to produce an essay on the most exciting thing that had happened to the writer in 1940. At the end of the period her paper was still blank. Explanation : nothing excit- ing had happened to her. But, it was pointed out, she had left England after the bombing started, and had crossed the Atlantic in the midst of the submarine war. But it was no good. No, there was nothing to write ; nothing had happened; the sea had been calm all the way, and the British Navy was there. So there could be no essay. * * * *