The Duchessa d'Aosta had been placed under the command of Geoffrey Appleyard and a skeleton crew, who were so delighted with their prize ship - and their Italian prisoners now locked below decks - that they hoisted a skull and crossbones from the mainmast. March-Phillipps exploded when he saw it fluttering in the dawn breeze. 'We all got a rocket and we were told we weren't to fly the Jolly Roger,' recalled Leonard Guise. 'He was a great stickler for etiquette, old Gus.