Bardsley spent four years at Woolwich, later moving to the position of Provost of Southwark Cathedral on London's South Bank in 1944. Although the Blitz had ended rockets in the shape of flying bombs added a further test of morale to Londoners (and further afield). Bardsley's bishop, Bertram Simpson was an admirer of the notion of 'Industrial Mission' and saw Bardsley as the ideal man to lead an evangelical mission into the docks, wharfs, markets, factories and offices of the South Bank. As the war concluded Bardsley was vocal in stating that now the war was over the Church needed to win the peace As a consequence the Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher invited Bardsley's to undertake a pastoral visit to troops under the British Army of The Rhine where he visited thirty-three regiments, made numerous broadcasts, took part in several reconciliation events and partook in many services. In November 1947 his mission changed again with his appointment as Suffragan Bishop of Croydon.
