2 AUGUST 1940, Page 5

Is the Admiralty quite tactful? I saw a French sailor,

serving obviously under General de Gaulle, with the customary French naval porn-porn cap, but with a ribbon bearing the legend " H.M.S. Victory." Temporary association with a depot- ship may be the normal course—but need emphasis be laid quite so pointedly on Trafalgar? After all, Admiral Muselier, General de Gaulle's colleague, now has a flagship of his own.