Powell was told to report for duty on December 11. He was a part of the 1/5th Battalion of the Welsh Regiment at Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. Once war came, the long hours stopped any thought of writing a lot. Powell believed that this could help him. War service gave him a lot of material for later use. Parts of "A Dance to the Music of Time" are about the war years. These parts are "The Valley of Bones", "The Soldier's Art", and "The Military Philosophers". Powell’s military service gave him the basic ideas for these three novels.