Before the war he had spent 7 years as a master at Wellington. He had been published and also a journalist he attended a French University.
On 13 July 1935 he married Edith Mary Rogerson at Christ’s Church in Norwich. At that time he was English master at the City of Norwich School. The couple moved to live at Field House after the wedding.
After the war he was employed at the Prince Rupert School in Wilhemshaven, Germany as head of English from September 1951 to August 1954. This was a boarding school for the children of British troops stationed in Germany. He was commissioned into the Cadet Corps taking command of the Sea Cadet section, commanding the school’s ship twice on two week cruises, as well as on numerous weekend cruises.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk Group 4 | Assistant Group Commander | Unknown | 1943 |
| Hoveton Patrol | Patrol Leader | 01 Oct 1940 | 18 Nov 1943 |
School teacher & journalist
In 1939 he was a Civil Air Guard and applied for Emergency Reserve Commission.
He was a member of the Bure River Patrol, Norfolk Home Guard until the end of September 1940.
Hoveton Patrol's first Leader he went to help Eades as Assistant Group Commander of Group 4 before he was able to evade the call up restrictions on Group Commanders in late 1943. He managed this by asking for a Special Branch commission on the grounds of his expertise with explosives, learnt while with Auxiliary Units. He was then commissioned in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and completed a staff course at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. He avoided a posting to Special Branch but was instead loaned to Combined Operations.
1 Jan 1944 Joined the staff of the Captain Group 1 Naval Assault Force “S”, operating Landing Craft Tank (LCT), Landing Ships Infant, Motor Launches and similar craft on invasion exercises.
29 Apr 1944 A/SOO “Q” LCT Squadron.
Initially training in waters around Milford Haven he travelled to St Budeaux and Devonport aboard LCT 1123. He transferred to US Navy sub chaser 1322 on 3 Jun 1944 and was aboard her throughout the landings by his squadron on Omaha beach on D Day and afterwards. He transferred to LCT 957 to bring the surviving craft back to Portland Harbour on 9 Jun 1944. Thereafter he supervised various Channel crossings of his LCTs and even went ashore on Utah beach for a period sleeping in the US Navy camp there.
On 14 Feb 1945 he joined the Stirling Castle as First Lieutenant to the naval commander. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and was then transferred again to a troop ship operating in the Mediterranean qualifying him for an impressive array of Medals and Stars.