[2][3] On 11 June 1938, Warfe married Ola Dysart at St Peters Church in Leongatha;[4] the marriage ultimately ended in divorce in March 1946.

In March he was promoted to captain,[2] before taking part in the short-lived Battle of Greece, which resulted in the withdrawal of Warfe's unit to Egypt, where they were rebuilt in Palestine and Syria.

[3] His leadership during the fighting in Bardia, during which he commanded a Bren carrier platoon, earned Warfe, in the words of author Garth Pratten, a "reputation for personal bravery...which remained with him throughout his service".

[3][5] Pratten describes Warfe's leadership style as "aggressive, impulsive but exacting"; he often led from the front, and even took personal command of attacks down to section level.

In July and August 1950, he deployed as an advisor during the Malayan Emergency, before taking up a regular appointment in December 1950, reverting temporarily to the rank of major.

Commencing in February 1951, with the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel he commanded the 15th National Service Training Battalion for two years before undertaking study at the Australian Staff College.

He deployed again to Malaya in August 1954 as an observer before returning to Australia in December that year, after which he took up a number of senior staff roles including positions at the Jungle Training Centre, where he was chief instructor,[15] the Directorate of Military Training, Army Headquarters and headquarters 3rd Division before retiring from the Regular Army in July 1962 with the rank of colonel.

He also served as a senior civilian advisor with the United States mission during the Vietnam War in 1966–1967, helping establish a police training centre.

[16][17] In this role he was officially employed by the United States Agency for International Development, but was recruited by Colonel Ted Serong, commander of the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam.