When Don reached the age of 18, he had to do his national service and subsequently reported at Dortmen. In 1947, he commenced his basic training in Bodwin, Cornwall with The Duke of Cornwall’s Infantry regiment. Despite being qualified for officers training he rebuked any such suggestion of a commission and opted to stay with the ordinary ranks.
Don was trained as a telex-printer operator in Catterick, Yorkshire and seemed to get on quite well with army life when left to his own devices. However, being a staunch anti-authoritarian, he was not the type of person who found it easy to follow orders and was forced to stay in the army for another six months on top his two years of national service.