The son of Mrs Bastin, of Ann Street, St Helier. At the time of the war, he was married with five children and living in Old St John's Road.

Trained in Ireland and Aldershot before going to the front with the Jersey Company in December 1915. In April the following year he fell ill with Trench Foot and was subsequently evacuated to England for treatment. By early 1917 he had recovered and was back at the front in Belgium. During a German trench raid in March 1917, however, he was captured and sent to a prisoner of war in Germany for the remainder of the conflict. In December 1919, he returned to Jersey, attending a reception for former prisoners of war in St Helier Town Hall the following month.

After the war, he appears to have rejoined the Army, serving with the Devonshire Regiment.