midday
With the men swarming in the rigging , and the Territorials who had come to replace them cheering from the shore , the transport moved slowly down the Grand Harbour past the French and British warships that lay at anchor . It would indeed be pleasing to record the fact that the departing warriors sang patriotic songs concerning their country 's greatness ; and that the officers with a few well-chosen words improved the shining hour , and pointed the moral of the great Entente with special reference to the warships around them . But being a truthful -- or , shall we say , comparatively truthful -- historian , I regret that it can not be done . Such songs as did rise above the medley of catcalls and gibes of a dark nature which passed in playful badinage between the sister services were of a nature exclusively frivolous ; and the conversation of such officers as were not consuming the midday cocktail consisted entirely of a great thankfulness that they had seen the last of an abominable island , and a fervent prayer that they would never see it again . The relief of it -- the blessed relief ! They would be in time for the end of the show any way , which was something . They were not going to miss it all ; they would be able to look their pals in the face after it was over .