Everywhere, there was bomb damage, abandoned houses and the hangovers of wartime: old newsreel footage on the BBC, ration CARDS and the routine disciplines of the home front.

The latest bomb, on July 4th, caused a leak 500 metres from where workers were repairing damage from another attack three days earlier.

The bomb crater, near a smallholding on the outskirts of Tripoli, was very small and there was much less collateral damage than from other bombs I have seen in recent weeks.