 Called up in 1940 (he was anti-war but did not become a conscientious objector to spare his mother's feelings), he was posted to what was then Ceylon, where he edited a magazine for the Ceylonese forces titled "Veera Lanka", which was published in both Sinhalese and Tamil.The job was not onerous, and he devoted his time to 'verandahism', a term he invented to describe hours passed on his private verandah, drinking, smoking, taking benzedrine and having sex with the locals.In 1944 he was caught "in flagrante" with a Sinhalese rickshaw-puller