His son writes: "At the start of the Second World War he had been working with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in Singapore and decided to return to England to help with the war effort. He had owned a boat when he lived in India as a young man and had made some lengthy trips round India. He had also taught himself to navigate. It was becoming quite hard to get out of Singapore at the time (as the Japanese were advancing) and so he bought a Panamanian First Mate's Certificate from the Greek Consul in Singapore. He was then able to find a position aboard a Greek tramp ship as their Navigating Officer. He navigated the vessel all the way to Vancouver, Canada. The Greek tramp ship was torpedoed shortly after he left the vessel. He crossed Canada and went across the Atlantic by sea (as a passenger) and got back to England. One of his duties involved taking command of a flotilla of MFV's which he took all the way from Portsmouth to Burma."