He was placed in Class I, Division II of the second part of the Tripos the following year, also receiving the Tyson Medal in astronomy and an Isaac Newton Studentship.

Partly instrumental in forming the Communications (later Signals) Company as a cadet corporal, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Territorial Army on 17 August 1910.

He was praised by his fellow officers for his efficiency and perpetual cheerfulness, managing to remain alert even after days without sleep, and was mentioned in despatches five times.

[5] Upon returning to Cambridge in 1919 with the rank of major (brevet lieutenant-colonel), he re-formed the signals section of the Officers Training Corps, and commanded it until 1928.

As a result, Stratton spent the war travelling extensively across the British Empire and also to the United States.

Having exceeded the age limit for retirement, he relinquished his commission in the Territorial Army on 20 October 1945, retaining the rank of brevet lieutenant-colonel.