 By chance he was in a summer camp in 1939 on the outbreak of the Second World War and was granted a regular, not wartime, commission in the British Army, in the Scots Guards, later serving in the 6th Guards Tank Brigade, a separate unit from the Guards Armoured Division.He commanded Churchill tanks in Normandy during the Second World War and during Operation Bluecoat in late July 1944.His was the first Allied unit to encounter German "Jagdpanther" tank destroyers, being attacked by three out of the twelve Jagdpanthers which were in Normandy.