After nine years' service on the Empire Tallies, Helena was retired and flew home from Karachi by way of Sharjah, Basrah, Baghdad, Lydda, Alexandria, Sollum, Sine, Malta. Rome, Marseilles and Toulouse, with an over-night stop at each of those places. Though still capable of flying, Helena was bereft of wings and legs after arrival in the United Kingdom and served its country as an office at a Royal Navy Air station.