At a dance on the quarterdeck on 12 January 1928, Collard openly lambasted Royal Marine Bandmaster Percy Barnacle and allegedly said "I won't have a bugger like that in my ship" in the presence of ship's officers and guests. Dewar and Daniel accused Collard of "vindictive fault-finding" and openly humiliating and insulting them before their crew, referring to an incident involving Collard's disembarkation from the ship on 5 March where the admiral had openly said that he was "fed up with the ship"; Collard countercharged the two with failing to follow orders and treating him "worse than a midshipman". Dewar and Daniel, feeling that morale was sinking due to these public displays, wrote letters of complaint which were given to Collard on 10 March, on the eve of a major exercise. Collard forwarded the letters to his superior, Vice-Admiral Sir John Kelly; he immediately passed them on to the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Roger Keyes. On realising that the relationship between the two and their Flag Officer had irretrievably broken down, Keyes ordered the exercise postponed by fifteen hours and ordered a court of inquiry to be convened. As a consequence, Collard was ordered to strike his flag in "Royal Oak" and Dewar and Daniel were ordered back to Britain. The Admiralty was informed of the bare facts on 12 March and Keyes proceeded to sea with the Mediterranean Fleet for the exercise as planned. The press picked up on the story worldwide, describing the affair—with some hyperbole—as a "mutiny". Public attention reached such proportions as to raise the concerns of the King, who summoned First Lord of the Admiralty William Bridgeman for an explanation. Having arrived back in England, Dewar and Daniel gave their version of events at the Admiralty, and put in writing requests for reinstatement in their positions in "Royal Oak", or trial by court-martial. Having received Keyes' full dispatch on 16 March, the Board of Admiralty resolved that Dewar and Daniel should undergo trial by court-martial as soon as possible at Gibraltar, where "Royal Oak" was due to be berthed. Consequently, Dewar and Commander Daniel departed Southampton in the P&O liner "Malwa" with their counsel, Mr. Day Kimball, and their wives, on 24 March and reached Gibraltar in the evening of 27 March. The two officers were immediately attached to the Gibraltar base ship, HMS "Cormorant" in accordance with naval custom.