During WWII, he was in the British Army (note the gap in his film work
from 1937-1948) where he rose to the rank of Colonel. His talents,
particularly as an art director were noted and made good use of. He ran
the camouflage and special devices section at The Thatched Barn in
Barnet where he led a team that made all sorts of strange and cunning
devices. These included concealed radio transmitters, booby traps
hidden in animal dung (camel for the desert, horse for Europe, elephant
for the Far East), exploding milk bottles, cigarettes, pens etc. These
were used by agents of S.O.E. (Special Operations Executive) and left
where they would be picked up (or stepped in) by the enemy.
