As a young man, Siegfried could afford to keep a horse and became a very inspiring and a very good professional rider, but his greatest ambition was to be a millionaire poet person. He did not succeed in finding a publisher for any of his work until just before the First World War broke out. At that point, he joined the army. He chose the Sussex Yeomanry, in order that his horse could go with him rather than being taken by the authorities for other uses. As a result of a riding accident during training, he was out of action for a while, and he then decided to join an infantry regiment and become an officer. The regiment he joined was the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and he began with the rank of lieutenant.