The son of Mr & Mrs P Baillie, of New St James Place, St Helier. Prior to the war he worked for Boots the Chemist.

After training in Ireland and Aldershot, he went to the front with the Jersey Company in December 1915. In March the following year he trained as a Bomber (hand grenades) and as an Guider. He may have been wounded or fell ill in May 1916, and evacuated for treatment as a result. In early 1917, however, he was back at the front with the Jersey Company in Belgium. Served into 1917, but during the fighting that year at Frezenberg, he was badly wounded and and taken prisoner. Initially, his parents were told that their son was dead, but subsequently a letter arrived from Germany to say that Ballie was actually a prisoner of war. A few days later, however, they tragically received a follow-up communication to say that he died of his wounds.