My late Uncle John was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in December 1941. He was posted as 2i/c a small Royal Artillery unit in the Outer Hebrides. The unit consisted of a Captain (RA), himself, a Sergeant, a Lance Bombardier and 4 Gunners. In December 1941 the Captain went on leave, leaving Uncle John as acting CO.
During the night of the 9th of December he was awakened by someone banging on the Nissan hut door. On opening the door he faced a fisherman from the main Island bearing a message from the War Office.
The message read "Commence hostilities against Japan immediately".
Being keen (and green) he strapped on his Webley, aroused his sleeping Force (all 6 of them) and ordered Guard Patrols.
After an hour of sea watching (at midnight) he realised how pointless it all was, so he sent the Guard Force to bed with the words "It's too dark. We'll start the new war in the morning".