Cunnington joined the
Canadian Forces in 1915 during
World War I. He rose through the ranks to become a Colonel. He was shot and believed killed in action at the
Battle of Amiens. He was instead wounded and taken prisoner, and his wounds, treated by German medical staff, did not take him. He remained a Prisoner of War until the cessation of hostilities. (In a curious incident that received attention in the press, the German troops who took him prisoner left behind some of his effects. Some Canadian troops found them, and identified them as his. Presuming the colonel to be dead, the soldier interred the items under a marker inscribed with his name. A photograph taken of the grave was forwarded to Cunnington's wife. Thus, the Cunnington family possessed a photograph of a grave with Cunnington's name on it several decades before his actual death.) After being released from the German POW camp in 1919, Cunnington got a job as an advertising agent with the
Calgary Herald. He left that position in 1926 to establish an insurance business. ==Political career==