On returning to a United Kingdom now at war, he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve as a Fleet Air Arm pilot, where he was posted to 802 Squadron, initially serving on the first escort carrier HMS Audacity flying the Grumman Martlet.
Next operational once again, in 1943, he then went back to the RAE, this time to perform experimental flying, almost immediately being transferred to Southern Italy to evaluate captured Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe aircraft.