He served in the Second World War as Fleet Gunnery Officer and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, earning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) at the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941, and seeing action at the landings in North Africa in 1942. He took command of the cruiser in 1944, and was awarded a Bar to his DSO during Operation Dragoon in 1945.