[4] Beginning in 1954, he went on to make nearly seventy films, often playing soldiers, most notably in The Cockleshell Heroes, The Bridge on the River Kwai (for which he also worked as consultant as well as suggesting the use of the well-known "Colonel Bogey March" which the prisoners whistled in the film), Sea of Sand, Tunes of Glory, The Guns of Navarone, Guns at Batasi, Tobruk and The Wild Geese.

[5] However, he was equally at home in comedies (Barnacle Bill, Casino Royale, two Carry On films), fantasy (One Million Years B.C., Mysterious Island), drama (Becket, Bunny Lake is Missing), and science fiction (Quatermass 2, Night of the Big Heat).

Other television work includes Danger Man (retitled Secret Agent when shown on American TV), The Saint, Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green and Worzel Gummidge.

The British were immediately bombed by Japanese aircraft and Herbert jumped ship and swam to shore with a broken collar bone.

He was among 11 soldiers who survived and ultimately were captured and sent to the notorious Japanese Prison Camp at Changi, where he remained as a POW for the duration of the war.