ight.
Need more be said about the physical standard of the crews of the
fighting ships of the Grand Fleet?

You had an eye to more than guns and machinery and to more than
the character of the officers. You wanted to get better acquainted with
the personnel of the men behind the guns. They formed patches of
blue on the decks, as one looked around the fleet, against the
background of the dull, painted bulwarks of steel--the human element
whose skill gave the ships life--deep-chested, vigorous men in their
prime, who had the air of men grounded in their work by long
experience. I noted when an order was given that it was obeyed
quickly by one who knew what he had to do because he had done it
thousands of times.

There are all kinds of bluejackets, as there are all kinds of other men.
Before the war some took more than was good for them when on
shore; some took nothing stronger than tea; some enjoyed the
sailor's privilege of growling; some had to be kept up to the mark
sharply; an occasional one might get rebellious against the merciless
repetition of drills.

The war imparted eagerness to all, the officers said. Infractions of
discipline ceased. Days pass without anyone of the crew of a
Dreadnought having to be called up as a defaulter, I am told. And
their health? At first thought, one would say that life in the steel caves
of a Dreadnought would mean pasty complexions and flabby
muscles. For a year the crews had been prisoners of that readiness
which must not lose a minute in putting to sea if von Tirpitz should
ever try the desperate gamble of battle.

After a turn in the trenches the soldiers can at least stretch their legs
in billets. A certain number of a ship's company now and then get a
tramp on shore; not real leave, but a personally conducted outing not
far from the boats which will hurry them back to their stations on
signal. However, all that one needs to keep well is fresh air and
exercise. The blowers carry fresh air to every part of the ship; the
breezes which sweep the deck from the North Sea are fresh enough
in summer and a little too fresh in winter. There is exercise in the
regular drills, supplemented by setting-up exercises. The food is good
and no man drinks or eats what he ought not to, as he may on shore.
So there is the fact and the reason for the fact: the health of the men,
as well as their conduct, had never been so good.

"Perhaps we are not quite so clean as we were before the war," s