 In 1917, he traveled to Vancouver where in August he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force.He saw combat in the trenches in France with the Gordon Highlanders, was twice hospitalized with Spanish flu during the pandemic and was undergoing flight training in the fledgling Royal Air Force (RAF) when the war ended.After the armistice, he returned to Los Angeles by way of Canada, and soon began a love affair with Pearl Eugenie ("Cissy") Pascal, a married woman 18 years his senior and the stepmother of Gordon Pascal, with whom Chandler had enlisted.