Posted primarily in Libya and Egypt, he taught himself Turkish through local Turkish acquaintances, from the Turkish newspaper Yedi Gün available in Cairo, and from Turkish translations of English classics sent to him by his wife. He returned to Oxford in 1945 with his newly acquired interest in Turkish and on the advice of H. A. R. Gibb took a second BA degree in Arabic and Persian as groundwork for Ottoman Turkish, which he finished with first-class honours (not achieved in this double subject since Anthony Eden in 1922) in just two years.
He acquired Turkish language skills through self-study using resources like the newspaper Yedi Gün and translations of English classics, returning to Oxford in 1945 to pursue a second BA degree in Arabic and Persian for Ottoman Turkish studies, achieving top honors (a rare feat since Anthony Eden in 1922) within two years.