[3] When war broke out Danks joined the Royal Regiment of Artillery and was stationed in Herefordshire, attaining the rank of Sergeant.
He became leader of the Western Command Symphony Orchestra and played the Mendelssohn and Bruch Violin Concertos in Chester Cathedral.
[1] Once the war had ended, Danks returned to London in 1946 and was offered the principal viola position with the BBCSO, under Sir Adrian Boult.
[1] He gave many first performances including the Sonata da Chiesa for viola and organ by Frank Martin in May 1954 at All Souls Church in Langham Place with the organist James Lockhart.
[7][8] He gave the first broadcast performances of many other works, including Giorgio Frederico Ghedini's Pezzo Concertante for two violins, (Paul Beard and Thomas Peatfield), viola and orchestra in 1950.
In August 1958 at the Royal Albert Hall he performed Don Quixote by Richard Strauss with the cellist Pierre Fournier.
The Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition has taken place every three years at the Port Erin Arts Centre on the Isle of Man since its inception in 1980.
After his death, his daughter Ysobel gave to the violist John White (a pupil of Danks),[18] a large collection of music which had belonged to Lionel Tertis.