ABSTRACT
That confidence, expressed so vigorously while Britain was fighting the Germans in Norway in 1940, may have become over-confidence in Prince of Wales – even though he knew she was not fully efficient29 – and may have made Phillips refrain from asking for fighter cover while at sea. He may have been too afraid of breaking wireless silence for security reasons. He may have been misled by the terms of Pulford's signal. Certainly the information sent later by Palliser about the evacuation of aerodromes in northern Malaya adds colour to this, and also the additional news that the C-in-C Far East was concentrating aircraft on Singapore. We shall never know.
