For the sake of completeness I should point out that 'Breaking Ranks" also contains biographies of John Saxby and Reginald Miles, neither of which I've read and neither of whom I've heard of. According to the back of the book, the former was a doctor and the latter was a soldier. Both must have 'broken ranks' in some way, although the back of the book does not say how, leaving one to assume they were homos*xuals. Sir James McNeish, as Dark Knight points out, intended finishing things off and cementing his place in New Zealand's literary history by describing the life of a stone that broke ranks by being a slightly different colour to the stones around him. Unfortunately, Sir James changed his mind and wrote about Mahon instead. Then, like Captain Holmes before him, he died.
Let that be a warning to those others out there who might be contemplating ignoring Megan's plea to give this thing a rest. Sure, there'll be a knighthood - but there'll be no time to enjoy it.