 His interest in livestock derived from his work on the family estates in Dorset, which he farmed from the 1940s.During World War II he served with the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry and in 1943 wrote a history of the regiment.He was its Commander in 1944/45 and again from 1953 to 1956; on retiring from the full-time army he was an active member of the Territorial Army, being Deputy Commander of No.