My job was always, as secretary to the Captain's secretary, in the Captain's office, which was nowhere near where the Captain worked. I mean, it was way down below in the Captain secretary's office, really. But that was the best decision I ever took, because quite apart from it obviously being a much nicer job and one that I like much more, it also had an enormous advantage, which I hadn't realised, coming as I did into the Navy without really knowing anything, that any hardened, seasoned, experienced sailor joining the Navy, getting onto a ship, the first thing he does is find a little place where he can sling his hammock with maximum privacy.

I had, when I got eventually to my sea-going ship, I got the Captain's office, so I could sling it in there, which was absolutely wonderful, instead of having a mess deck with 200 men smoking all night and probably all the portholes shut. This was absolutely wonderful, but, of course, I hadn't got to my ship yet. I had seven weeks on HMS Royal Arthur and then, as I was going to be a writer, I went up to what was called the supply and secretarial training, which was at HMS Ceres, Wetherby, Yorkshire. C-E-R-E-S, like the Greek Goddess.

[Q] Still on land?

Still on land, very much on land. Wetherby, Yorkshire, I mean, you could hardly get further from the sea, you know. But anyway, that was where we... where I learned to be a writer and alas, of course, what I would really have liked was if they'd taught me proper touch-typing. Again, no time to do that. I've always been able to type very, very quickly, but always with the wrong fingers on the wrong notes, and that's as far as we ever got in the Navy.