Halliday studied at
William Ellis School and
University College School before volunteering in 1939 for the Royal Navy. While he awaited his call-up papers, he worked as a trawler deck-hand on
Breadwinner, out of
Lowestoft. Initially entering service in 1941 as a
naval rating at at
Skegness, Halliday was offered a
commission as an officer in the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and training as a naval airman. His air training took place in the United States (still formally neutral at that time) at the naval air station at
Grosse Ile, near
Detroit and at
Pensacola, Florida. After qualifying, he was posted to a squadron of
Grumman Avengers, aboard the
escort carrier in the
Gulf of Mexico. After three months period on anti-submarine patrols in the north Atlantic, Halliday was posted to a shore station,
RNAS Hatston in
Orkney, guarding against sorties by German warships. In late 1943, Halliday's squadron was embarked on ; they sailed for the
Far East, arriving at
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in January 1944. ''Whelp's''
first lieutenant,
Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, lent Halliday a spare uniform and subsequently accompanied him on a "run ashore" in
Fremantle. Halliday was back on
Victorious in time to take part in the raids on the airfields on the
Sakishima Islands in March to May 1945, for his efforts, he was awarded a
DSC in addition to the
Mention in Dispatches earned during Operation
Meridian. After the Japanese surrender, Halliday learned that his cabin-mate, Ken Burrenston, who had been shot down over Palembang, had been beheaded by the Japanese at
Changi, two days after the Japanese surrender. ==Post-war==