He was drafted in 1942, but Davis, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to be enlisted into a segregated regiment and demanded either exemption or service in the nonsegregated Canadian army.
After a series of unsuccessful representations to the authorities, which drew press coverage and the support of several public figures, he decided not to report for duty and was imprisoned for thirteen days.
[1] In March 1945, Davis, then a warrant officer attached to an army musical unit, was sent to France for six months, where he registered for a course on French language and culture open to American soldiers at the University of Paris.
[1] Davis was warmly welcomed in Paris, partly due to the fame of the song "Lover Man", and was described by the influential French critic and writer Boris Vian in Jazz Hot as "the youngest and most sympathetic of the American composers".
His songwriting royalties were still insufficient to live on, so he began singing his own songs in solo performances, touring through France, Italy, Holland, Spain, Switzerland and other countries.