The rescued party, having had its last contact with civilization in 1914, was unaware of the course of the Great War. News of Shackleton's safe arrival in the Falklands briefly eclipsed war news in the British newspapers on 2 June 1916.[116] The expedition returned home in piecemeal fashion, at a critical stage in the war, without the normal honours and civic receptions. When Shackleton himself finally arrived in England on 29 May 1917, after a short American lecture tour, his return was barely noticed.[117]