Arthur Bryant, in "Turn of the Tide", puts the contribution made by Admiral Layton in a very positive light. "Thanks to the timely action of the island's Commander-in-Chief what had happened in the Ceylon skies over Easter proved one of the turning points of the war... Through the foresight shown by the Chiefs of Staff (in appointing one supreme Commander, Layton, to the island) and the presence of mind of the two admirals to whom the island and the Eastern Fleet had been entrusted, the air defences of Ceylon – the key to the Indian Ocean – remained unbroken and the fleet safe at sea. For the first time since the start of the Japanese war a major assault by the Rising Sun had been repulsed."