Gerald Hollis World War II as he was colour blind. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in 1940, and was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1942. He served as a physical training officer at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, Devon. The college was moved to Eaton Hall, Cheshire between 1943 and 1946, because of Nazi bombings. At the end of hostilities, Hollis felt drawn to holy orders: from 1945 to 1947, he trained for ordination at Wells Theological College. He was ordained into the Church of England in 1947 and then served his curacy at St Dunstan's,
Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry the new regiment. The Royal 1st Devonshire Yeomanry Cavalry and the Royal North Devon Hussars co-sponsored the 27th (Devonshire) Company of the 7th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry which arrived in South Africa on 23 March 1900. On 17 April 1901, the regiment was renamed as the Royal 1st Devon Imperial Yeomanry and reorganised in four squadrons and a machine gun section. On 1 April 1908, the regiment was renamed for the final time as the Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry and transferred to the Territorial Force, trained and equipped as hussars. The regiment was based at Dix's Field in Exeter at this