"improved greatly". Stationed in the Mediterranean, Brazen monitored progress of the Spanish Civil War, a duty that included protecting British merchant vessels and rescuing the crews of sinking ships. By June 1939, Waller had returned to Australia to become Director of Signals and Communications at the Navy Office. World War II HMAS Stuart in the Mediterranean At the outbreak of World War II, Waller was appointed captain of HMAS Stuart, taking charge of a group of four other obsolete ex-RN destroyers—HMA Ships Vampire, Vendetta, Voyager, and Waterhen—that the Germans later nicknamed the "Scrap Iron Flotilla". The ships were en route to Singapore for training when the British and Australian governments agreed that they should be assigned to the Mediterranean as the 19th Destroyer Division, under Waller's control. Arriving at Malta in late December, Waller made a positive initial impression on senior RN commanders; this was soon borne out by his actions during the salvage of the Trocas, a disabled tanker. In May 1940, he was appointed to command the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, which included the vessels of the "Scrap Iron Flotilla" plus four modern British destroyers, and a month later was promoted to captain. Following Italy's entry into the war on 10 June 1940, Waller was involved in the search for minefields off the North African coast. A keen shooter, he personally blew up floating mines using a rifle and armour-piercing bullets. On 21 June, Stuart shelled the Italian-held town of Bardia. The next month, his 10th Destroyer Flotilla participated in the Battle of Calabria. Waller's ships carried out bombardments of Fort Capuzzo on 17 August and an Italian seaplane base in the Gulf of Bomba one week later. In September, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for "courage, enterprise, and devotion to duty on recent engagements"—in particular, his pinpointing of enemy minefields. The same month, he transferred to HMAS Vampire while Stuart went in for refit. As the Allied armies began to counterattack Italian forces in December 1940, the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, gave Waller command of the newly formed Inshore Squadron, comprising destroyers, minesweepers, and auxiliaries. In his role as Cunningham's Senior Officer Afloat, Waller took charge of naval support for the attack on Bardia, which fell to the Allies on 5 January 1941. Shortly afterward, he handed over command of the Inshore Squadron and transferred back aboard Stuart. Stuart and