He served as the chief signals officer of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).
He became an accountant, and was commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals (Middlesex Yeomanry) in 1939.
He volunteered to join the Long Range Desert Group and was interviewed by Major Ralph Bagnold and Captain Bill Shaw in Cairo.
He attended the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, and became a farmer, and became active in landowners' representative associations.
During his time as president, the College was approved to award academic degrees, and admitted the first women.