 He joined the army (Royal Engineers) in 1941 and served as an officer in India, Burma, Malaya and Singapore.He married Norah Fallon in Singapore in July 1947.After a number of postings, including witnessing an atomic bomb test at Maralinga, Australia, where he suffered a heart attack at the age of 35, he settled in Netheravon, Wiltshire in 1958 and retired from the army in 1965.