29 NOVEMBER 1940, Page 5

A soldier to whom I gave a lift in London

one morning this week was on forty-eight hours' leave. He was stationed at Arundel and his home is at Scarborough. He could naturally not afford the rail fare, and was depending on hitch-hiking the whole way. He had done it before—twenty-two separate lifts going and twenty-four coming back. I dropped him in London at 9.2o. He had left Arundel about 5. He would get one night —no daylight—at home if he was lucky. But there was a wife and child there that made it worth while. Apparently the length of leave is not affected by the distance from home. Would 72 hours in cases like this imperil the security of the country?

* * * *