[1] He served in the trenches in the First World War with the King's Royal Rifle Corps, despite partial blindness,[2] was awarded the Military Cross, and reached the rank of captain.
Having been given the Glyndebourne Estate for his own use he began to develop local enterprises there from 1920 onwards: in 1923, he acquired the famous organbuilding company of William Hill & Son & Norman & Beard Ltd., which had come into being around 1916 with the progressive merging of its two constituent firms.
In 1931 he married the Canadian soprano Audrey Mildmay, and together they planned to build an opera theatre as an annex to the main house.
This was completed in 1934[3] and the first season, which featured Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte, conducted by Fritz Busch, was an immediate success.
Eventually however he succeeded in getting commercial sponsorship, placing the Festival on a sound footing and enabling him to aspire to the highest artistic standards.