leamington's was a very small force and for a year his command was only "acting" so, from the start, young was looking for a permanent as well as a larger command. after several unsuccessful applications (the east riding of yorkshire constabulary in 1939, portsmouth city police in 1940, oxford city police in 1940), in september 1941 he was selected from a short-list of six as senior assistant chief constable of birmingham city police, then the second-largest police force in the uk; the salary was £1,000 p.a. he was to be responsible for training and communications - both things he was good at.