parts for building the planes were where they needed to be on the production line. War service In February 1939 Lowe joined the Territorial Army, which meant several months later he was among the first men called up to serve in the Second World War. He served with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry. Initially training with horses, the regiment soon became a mechanised unit of the Royal Artillery. Lowe was medically regraded due to his poor eyesight and after training in wireless and as a radar technician transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. After working on searchlights in Lincolnshire he was sent out to Egypt in 1942, where he soon transferred to the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He was a good horseman and learned to speak Arabic. After a period in the Suez Canal Zone he was stationed at the REME's 15th Radio Repair Workshops at Rafah. Lowe soon found outlets for developing his talents in entertainment. He was known among the troopers for his impressions of officers and crooners, and when radio equipment was stolen, he read the BBC News over his camp's Tannoy system. In January 1943 he called a meeting to form an amateur dramatics group, the REME No. 1 Welfare Club Dramatic Society. "It was sheer bloody boredom that did it", he said later, "and after that I was hooked". He took his first appearance on stage in The Monkey's Paw on 8 February 1943 and continued to both act in and organise plays, as well as a Christmas revue. His efforts led to a posting with the No. 2 Field Entertainment Unit, promoted to the rank of sergeant major. In this role he helped outlying units to produce their own shows. He assisted Martin Benson in establishing the Mercury Theatre in Alexandria, including in production and management, but not as an actor. Following the end of the war, Lowe returned to Britain in November 1945, although he was not officially demobbed until March 1946. Acting career Early career In 1945, Lowe's father was organising special railway trips and excursions, including private trains for circuses and theatre companies. He arranged an audition for Lowe with Eric Norman for the Frank H. Fortescue Famous Players repertory company. Lowe was immediately offered a trial in the comedy play Bedtime Story, in which he took the part of Dickson. In this role he made his professional