The Merchant Navy is a "Defence Service" every whit as important as its Navy, Army, or Air Force. Without the unconquerable spirit and unflinching bravery of the merchant seamen during the Great War we should have suffered defeat. Many men ere now finding that the severe hardships they underwent afloat between 1914 and 1918 have aged them prematurely. Scores who would otherwise be capable of work are past cerning a living in the fierce competition ashore.
These men deserve our profound-"st gratitude. Christmas is the time for gifts and parties and family reunions. There are ways in which we can also make a really happy Christmas for the seamen who served and saved us,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.