Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - A lokacin da yakin ya barke a 1939, an ba Zirnheld wani sashi na Défense Contre Avions (DCA) a Lebanon. Zirnheld ya yi kokarin canja wuri don yin aiki a rundunar soji a Faransa, amma Armistice
aka sanya hannu kafin ya iya yin haka. Daga nan Zirnheld ya tsere zuwa Falasdinu da ke ƙarƙashin mulkin Burtaniya don shiga sojojin Faransa. An sanya shi zuwa 1st Colonial Infantry Battalion a matsayin mai zaman kansa kuma ya yi aiki a yakin Sidi Barani. Saboda iliminsa, an sake sanya shi Mataimakin Daraktan Sashen Watsa Labarai da Tattalin Arziki a Alkahira. Ko da yake wannan wuri ne mai "amintacce", ya nemi a tura shi zuwa gaba. Daga nan aka tura shi zuwa Makarantar 'Yan takarar Jami'ai a Brazzaville, Congo ta Faransa, inda ya kammala karatu na 5 a ajin sa a matsayin Aspirant (Brevet-Lieutenant).