Note: This anecdote happened on the Reina del Pacifico, a transport ship in World War 2 that was transporting Christopher Lee and other RAF recruits to their training ground in Africa:
We almost reached South America before suddenly turning sharp left , or hard aport, and settling course for Cape Town. This was the end of our journey, but through one of those mysterious illogicalities of the military mind we were forbidden from going ashore. After two years of black-out we were tantalized by the myriad of lights of the South African capital. I begged and cajoled a pass on the grounds of having an important message to deliver to an export corporation which had an agency in Cape Town. The duty officer asked: "What do they make so vital to the war effort?"
I replied, unthinkingly: "Brylcreem."
There was a long pause. The RAF were already being twitted as "the Brylcreem Boys". Then he decided to treat it as a joke. "Be back before 23:00 hours", he said, "or you won't find me laughing."
Source:
Lee, Christopher: Tall, Dark and Gruesome (1997), p. 105
Further Reading:
For anyone like me needing to look it up: Brylcreem is a brand of hair gel.