How interservice politics overwhelmed Henry Harwood

How severe did rivalry between the British army, navy, and air force become?

Usually professional, but severe enough that politically inexperienced commanders such as Harwood could be made to carry blame for joint failures.

Harwood's success at the River Plate earned promotion but did not prepare him for bureaucratic combat with army and RAF commanders in the Mediterranean and Middle East. He had been trained for operational command, not for the political blame shifting of a senior joint headquarters. While he tried to solve shared problems, counterparts protected their services by assigning failures to the navy. The case demonstrates how budget politics and service self-protection could overwhelm an otherwise capable commander.