In 1941 he was commissioned in the RAF and served as a Flying Control Officer until demobilised as a Flight Lieutenant in November 1945. During that time he received a Fellowship of the Royal Manchester College of Music (1941) and a Fellowship of the Guildhall School of Music in 1945. After the War he returned to Covent Garden in February 1948 and was a member of the company for four seasons and appeared during the 1952/53 season as a guest. He was much admired as King Mark in "Tristan und Isolde" and created the role of the Evangelist in the première of Ralph Vaughan Williams's "The Pilgrim's Progress", and sang with Sadler's Wells Opera, Jay Pomeroy's company at the Cambridge Theatre and at Glyndebourne, but devoted himself increasingly to oratorio, including the major works of Bach, Handel and Elgar. He also gave BBC broadcasts of lieder. In 1952 he toured Australia and New Zealand.