Reginald Forknall enlisted into the Somerset Light Infantry during the Second World War and volunteered for airborne forces.

He qualified as a military parachutist on Course 134 which ran at RAF Ringway from 18 September to 5 October 1944, and served with 9th Parachute Battalion in the remaining campaigns in North West Europe including Ardennes, the Rhine Crossing and the Advance to the Baltic. He went on to serve in Palestine prior to demobilisation in 1947.