Britain did not seem particularly grateful when he got home. “I wasn’t even properly debriefed. Nobody seemed to want to know.” The civil service had its own welcome. “Usually if you have been the victor in a major military event, there is some acclaim. Mine was 'a claim’ from the people who do the accounts, saying, 'We have been looking at your entertainment expenditure as admiral and observe that you haven’t spent anything over the last three months.