Robert Wiggins was enlisted into The Royal Engineers and served with 591 (Antrim) Field Company RE, which was converted to a parachute squadron in 1943. It then formed part of the 6th Airborne Division and participated in the campaigns in North West Europe during 1944-45. He qualified as a military parachutist on Course 69B for squadron personnel and some members of the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment, which ran from 21 June to 1 July 1943. The course instructors' notes record that he was a "hard and diligent worker".