support of the four most powerful ships in his command. Evan-Thomas was never consulted over the account, but had obtained a copy. He arranged to speak to First Lord of the Admiralty Leo Amery in July 1923, but the meeting and ensuing correspondence with the Admiralty failed to reach a satisfactory conclusion. The issue now also included when a flag signal from Lion had been hoisted and then lowered (which was the point at which the ship receiving the order was supposed to act upon it), the failure of which signal caused Evan-Thomas to continue steaming towards the enemy when he should have turned away with Beatty's other ships. Evan-Thomas arranged another interview in December 1923, but on this occasion Beatty interrupted the meeting before Evan-Thomas could explain his business, and 'pushed' him out of the room. Evan-Thomas returned to Chatham, but by 2.30 pm that day he was taken ill and was diagnosed to have suffered a stroke. In March 1924, he was obliged to retire, and was not sufficiently well to attend a formal interview with the King, as would be expected for a retiring admiral. He was awarded the grand cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) for his services to the Royal Navy. In June 1924, the Admiralty Narrative was published, still without the corrections demanded by Jellicoe. Instead, a list of Jellicoe's objections was included as an appendix, together with refutations by the Admiralty which Jellicoe had not been permitted to see. In May 1925, Evan-Thomas was finally able to see the King and discuss the matter. King George was now in the position of formally having to support the Admiralty: He recognised Evan-Thomas' legitimate grievances, but felt Beatty was an effective First Sea Lord at a time when the Navy was under considerable threat from spending cuts and changes in public opinion, he felt it 'better for the nation that there should be no more controversy'. Matters continued to simmer. German accounts of the battle were published, which went some way to credit Evan-Thomas' ships with most of the success against Hipper during the battle cruiser action. Then in 1927, Winston Churchill published his own account of the war, coming down heavily on Beatty's side in the argument. This prompted Evan-Thomas, now somewhat recovered from his illness, to write to The Times, publicly stating his case. A number of newspapers carried articles criticising