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61between the ranks of the various air forces, where some ranks did not have exact equivalents, and the differing levels at which responsibilities and powers were held within each rank structure was no easy task. Furthermore, there were internal struggles for political control within each national contingent, and inter8Service rivalries between, for instance, the separate army and naval air forces sponsored by the Netherlands and France, whose regulations and pay were, again, different. Nations vied with each other for attention, priority and concessions, all made worse by the need to salve their wounded pride at their recent defeats and exile status. The British Government struggled to deal with these issues while also keeping their full attention on the opening phases of the Battle of Britain. It was a difficult balancing act and, unfortunately, insensitivity or thoughtlessness did occasionally mar the proceedings. For instance, on 17 July 1940 the Foreign Office received a report of discontent within the Norwegian Government in exile. A valuable ally, if only for the large amounts of shipping that they had at their disposal, they felt that they were being ignored. A member of staff from the Ministry of Shipping reported: %u2018The Norwegian Government realised how busy all the members of the British Government must be and that therefore they had studiously refrained from worrying them over small matters although there were many little things that they would gladly welcome if such were offered to them by the British Government on their own initiative. [Mr Lie, Norwegian Ministry of Supply,] mentioned, in parenthesis, that Poland seemed to be able to get a lot of special privileges because they kept asking for them. On the other hand, the Norwegians did not want to keep on asking for things because of the British Government%u2019s preoccupation.%u20197 Clearly, aggrieved that, although they were trying to be considerate guests, they were in fact being penalised for their good behaviour, the Norwegians wrote to the Air Ministry to complain. Its reply, ten days later, attempted to be reassuring but employed a distinctly inappropriate turn of phrase. %u2018We are now trying%u2019, they said, %u2018to work out a comprehensive scheme of privileges and