“A special buoy was wanted—one that would automatically provide its own light on being thrown into the water. Brock made so little of the problem that he produced such a buoy, designed, constructed and ready for use in less than twenty-four hours. Special signal lights were required: Brock produced them. Flame projectors, far exceeding anything hitherto known, were mooted: Brock produced them also. No matter what our requirements were Brock was undefeated. With a highly scientific brain he possessed extraordinary knowledge of almost any subject. He had travelled much and could tell you all that was worth knowing of any country from Patagonia to Spitzbergen. He was no mean authority on old prints and books, was also a keen philatelist, and was blessed with a remarkable memory. Wherever he went he carried with him a pocket edition of the New Testament, which was his favourite possession; his knowledge of the contents was quite unique. And with it all he was a great shot and an all-round sportsman. His fine physique was well remembered by many a Rugby footballer from the days when he played in the pack of one of the leading club fifteens. His geniality and humour were hard to beat. But of all his qualities, optimism perhaps held first place. At times we, who were far from being pessimistic, thought his optimism excessive, but it was justified absolutely with regard to the success of the enterprise.” The “Very” was a pre-war invention, patented in 1878; it was not adopted into the Service until about ten years later. It consists of a short-barrelled pistol of 1 inch calibre—or rather that was the original size, a 1½ inch pattern was introduced during the war, and subsequently a 1½ inch pattern with a longer barrel and shoulder piece. The original cartridge was in effect a single star Roman candle, fired by percussion. A small propelling charge drove out a single coloured star, either red, white, green or blue. The star rose to a height of about 300 feet. These were used purely for signalling purposes. The war suggested another use of the “Very” pistol, that is for illuminating purposes, and various illuminating stars were introduced, both to light up upon reaching their objective with a range of two to three hundred yards, and to hang suspended from a parachute, similar to the old parachute light ball, but with many times the brilliance, although considerably less in size. The difficulty of identifying coloured stars in daylight suggested the use of coloured smokes. These were successfully evolved by Major Wicks and Captain Gray, an achievement of far greater difficulty than the casual observer might think. Apart from these synthetically prepared colours, the yellow smoke natural to orpiment was much used in signal stars. Later stars were suggested by Commander Brock, which ascended burning white and at their height broke into two, and in a subsequent pattern into three, stars of varying colours.