I te 29 o Hepetema 1938, i karangatia a Thomas ki te mahi, a, ka uru atu ki te kaipuke whawhai. I te 13 o Akuhata 1939, i uru ia ki te kaipuke, i reira ia i mahi ai i te wa i pakaru ai te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao. I whakatairangahia ia ki te rangatira i te 27 o Pipiri 1940. I muri i tana whakangaromanga e nga Itari i te whakaekenga o Souda Bay
, i whakawhiwhia ia ki te HMS "Nile", te whakaturanga takutai o te Royal Navy i Ihipa, a i mahi ia i runga i te kaimahi o te Kaiwhakahaere-i-te-Tumuaki, Mediterranean Fleet. I marenatia ia i te rua o nga wa i te 10 o Hepetema 1941, ki a Mary Fedora Douglas-Watson, he kaiwaiata me te kaituhi. Ko ia te pouaru o tetahi hoa rangatira o te moana, a Commander Francis Douglas-Watson, me te tamahine a Anthony St Ledger.