With the advent of World War II he joined the Scots Guards but due to his language ability was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps and sent to Malaya.
At the time of the Japanese invasion in Malaya, he was attached to the Indian Army on the east coast, and his brigade covered the final withdrawal to Singapore.
In 1947, the book, which details the experiences and impressions of a young American-educated Japanese girl recently returned to Japan as WWII unfolds, collected the first-novel Doubleday Prize and its $20,000 monetary award.
[3] Living in Scotland, first on an island in the Hebrides, then to a house overlooking the harbor in Crail, in Fife, he produced a steady stream of books, including the much admired The Ginger Tree and a series of highly successful thrillers under the pseudonym of 'Gavin Black'.
In the late 1980s The Ginger Tree was turned into a television series by the BBC, with NHK, Japan and WGBH Boston,[4][5] starring Samantha Bond as the protagonist.