 He joined the Royal Navy in 1906, five years before the creation of an Australian navy, and served in World War I and World War II.He was the Naval Attache at Rome from 1938 to 1940, and he commanded the Australian warship H.M.A.S Perth from 1940 to 1941.He was Director of radio equipment for the Admiralty from 1943 to 1944, and then Commodore of East Africa from 1945 until 1946 when he became Aide-de-Camp to King George VI.