Captain Behague's daughter, Ann, notes that her father kept diaries from the day he joined the Navy in 1915. During the 1939-45 war these, together with many letters and papers, were destroyed whilst in storage during an incendiary raid on Portsmouth. It is fortunate, she says, that anything at all has survived but it means that many details of his life have been lost.

In 1939 an Admiralty Fleet Order was issued at the beginning of the war prohibiting officers and men from keeping a diary. This was for security reasons in case of capture and information falling into enemy hands. Captain Behague obeyed this rule to the letter, unlike many other more senior officers who have subsequently published memoirs based on their wartime diaries.

His first appointment as a commissioned officer came in March 1926 when he was appointed Mate to the battleship HMS Marlborough, with additional duties as Mate of the drifter Flat Calm, used as a tender by Marlborough. Being mate of a drifter had its compensations. You were your own boss to a certain extent and life was what you made it, but you were always at the beck and call of Big Brother.

Flat Calm was a former North Sea fishing boat originally designed for "drifting" attached to the end of a long fishing net. The Royal Navy used them as tenders to capital ships to transport stores, liberty men etc. between ship and shore. When the capital ship moved to a different port, the drifter had to follow, making an independent passage.

The captain of HMS Marlborough always signed himself "R. P-E-E-Drax". His name in full was the Honourable Reginald Plunkett-Ernle-Erle-Drax, no less, so no wonder he preferred the abbreviated version. Among the "flimsies" (summaries of confidential reports) written on Peter Behague by R. P-E-E-Drax is one recommending him "in all respects fit for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant" and another praising him for his accurate sightings and good knowledge of navigation - especially in drifters. Behague was on his way.

I April, 1928, Lieut. Peter Behague was posted to HMS Vivid in Devonport, where he stayed for two enjoyable years, renting a small house at St. Budeaux, just outside Plymouth, touring around Devon in a long-bonnetted Morris Cowley, camping and picnicking. It was a great time for family gatherings, plus fours, golf, tennis and peace. The albums for this period in his life bulge with joyful outings. But life for men in the Royal Navy did not stand still for long, even in those golden years between the wars.

In February, 1930, he left England, home and beauty in HMS Vindictive for the Far East after being appointed First Lieutenant of the Yangtse gunboat HMS Cockchafer on the China Station, and to what was to be a two-year stint. He now began the first of two journals, which mercifully have survived the years and make most interesting reading.

Smells pleasant and foul

The voyage in Vindictive took in Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Port Thewfik, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Woosung, Nanking, Wuhu, Kinkiang and all ports to Hankow before joining HMS Cockchafer. There are accounts of expeditions ashore, the pleasant smells of Malta, of being nearly gassed by funnel fumes, Ghulli Ghulli men, and of dried up salt lakes alongside the Suez Canal looking just like snow fields.

Wry comments abound:

"Amused by the antique method employed by the natives in dredging the Sweet Water Canal. Just an ordinary garden rake on the end of a piece of rope. The rake is thrown in, allowed to sink and then dragged out by the rope. Result - practically nix".

"Suez is a ghastly place, all smells, flies and garbage, quite the filthiest place I've ever seen. Went to the Hotel Bel Air (sic!) and had some poisonous coffee".

"In Thewfik we went to a club and were made hon. members. A very good club indeed. They gave a dance for us on the night of our arrival and sent the Consul on board to ask us to go. The idiot forgot. He is quite wet. Thewfik is a very pretty place indeed and very clean. Thousands of huge dragonflies on the jetty when we went for the boat. Amused ourselves by trying to catch them. The Captain upheld his reputation here as usual. Wherever we go he knows women".

"Arrived Aden. Extraordinary sight of soldiers drilling. They wear fez, tunic and khaki shorts, puttees and no boots. Their feet are colossal. Went to see the famous mermaids of Aden all caught at various times in the harbour. They are about eight feet long, have a head rather like an ape, very short arms with an extraordinarily human hand and they are quite human with the exception that they have no legs but a tail".

And then there was this poignant entry:

"Had afternoon watch and promptly got the willies. How can I possibly exist for two years away from my Muriel? Two years - Two years - beating into my brain the whole afternoon. I wonder if I shall go batty? It must be perfectly foul for her to be stuck in the same place, meeting the same smug people all the time, all asking the same insane question, 'And where is your husband now, Muriel?' Brrrh!"

Captain Behague's daughter Ann comments: "It was not an easy time for my mother. In these days for Service people to be separated for that length of time would be unheard of but somehow it was accepted then".

Then came Singapore. "Arrived Naval Base at 4 pm and berthed alonside Ruthenia in a terrific thunderstorm, lightning crackling all round the ship and setting fire to trees on the bank 30 yards away. Cost of living in Singapore very high. No place for naval officers. Went to Raffles Hotel for a drink. Asked for a lime juice and soda and was supplied with a glass of soda water on which was floating a thin slice of lime! They only understand stengahs and pahits here".

Hong Kong. "Surrounded by junks and sampans. The women do all the work apparently. I hated the sight of the women, often with young babies on their backs, pulling a huge sweep. The stinks baffle description".

Woosung. "Absolutely nothing to see here. It is just like Sheerness at low water. The river is about ten miles wide and of a bright yellow colour. Not too impressed with my first sight of the Yangtse".

Nanking. "Martial law in Nanking and much soldiery moving about and crossing the river. HMS Suffolk is here as well as Aphis, also two Chinese cruisers, a Yankee destroyer and Jap gunboat".

Hankow. "Left Vindictive. Received orders to take passage to HMS Mantis at Chenglin in HMS Gnat".

Chenglin. "Transhipped gear to Mantis. Went ashore to tennis party given by Mr. Chiaou, the Chinese Commissioner. He speaks moderate English but his wife more. They seem to have masses of brats, who keep popping their heads out of odd doors. Tennis wasn't of a high standard".

Who'd be a Chinese soldier?

Changsha. "Much military activity in the harbour. Bugles blowing, crackers cracking and junk loads of soldiers moving down river, off to squash the Communists who are very active in neighbouring villages. Who'd be a Chinese soldier on $2 a month, when he gets it?" Do not intend to acquire the boozing habit out here. Have come to the conclusion that everyone drinks too much in China".

" "Passed through Tiger Tooth Gorge just below Ichang and anchored at Ichang. Skipper went ashore while I looked after ship. Invaded by boozy party including the Captain of the American gunboat and an extraordinary character known as Ol' Man River. Managed to get rid of them fairly quickly when they realised I wasn't going to fill t