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Ernest was called up in March 1943 and, in the course of his basic training in Lincoln, he was found to be unfit for active service due to a medical defect in his legs. He was assigned to the Pioneer Corps and engaged on munitions preparation and distribution in Shropshire for most of his service. The vast depot at Craven Arms was keeping the tanks and guns in ammunition throughout the UK and abroad, notably North Africa, and it had to be a precise operation to avoid either shortages or undesirable stockpiling at the front. Filling detonators, fusing AA shells and loading and unloading of all kinds of ordnance was not a job for the careless, although Ernest took it in his stride. In fact, when one of the Youlgrave farmers applied for him to help with harvest leave, he was only too keen to get back to duty. When the war鈥檚 end obviated the need for munitions, he served out his time to demob in Chester.

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