He was educated at Eton, and joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1939 when the Second World War broke out. An amateur radio ham, he was quickly transferred to the Royal Corps of Signals, and was commissioned, ending up as a Captain. He read Natural Sciences at New College, Oxford, from 1940 to 1942, before returning to Catterick to train for the invasion of France. He landed with his brigade in Normandy three weeks after D-Day, and took charge of a team of signallers.