Following the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in 1940, he was recalled to service, and fought in the Albanian front as a regimental commanding officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Following the German invasion of Greece in April 1941, he fled the country and joined the forces of the Greek government in exile in the Middle East.

After the liberation of Greece in 1944, he became Minister of Public Order in the short-lived cabinet of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos (November 1945),[1] and head of the Athens Military Command.

He retired again in 1946, and ran successfully for a seat in the Hellenic Parliament in the March 1946 elections, representing his native Aetolia-Acarnania.

In 1949, during the last stages of the Greek Civil War, he was again recalled to service and appointed as head of the Central Greece Military Command.