 After serving on the Western Front in the Balloon Corps, Orde-Lees, with the assistance of Shackleton, secured a place in the Royal Flying Corps on 1 August 1917 where he became an enthusiastic advocate for the use of parachutes.He jumped from Tower Bridge into the River Thames to prove their effectiveness and a Parachute Committee was formed with Orde-Lees as secretary to investigate the use of parachutes for pilots.He was awarded the Air Force Cross in the 1919 New Year Honours list, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on 10 October.