 From 1943 he was attached to Combined Operations Pilotage Parties, involved in daring explorations on enemy beaches in small craft in northern France.He served for more than a year in the Far East, his role being to reconnoitre Japanese beaches in Burma and other potential targets in Sumatra.In 1943 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, having been a recipient of the Croix de Guerre in 1942, and was three times mentioned in dispatches.