The son of John and Fanny of Church Street, St Helier. Prior to the war he lived in Don Road, St Helier.

Soon after arriving in Ireland, he attended a course of instruction at Dollymore, Dublin, to qualify as a musketry instructor. He gained a First Class Instructor's Certificate. An experienced NCO in the Militia, he was appointed to serve as senior NCO with Machine Gun Section of the 7th Royal Irish Rifles. In late 1916, he was promoted to CSM of the Jersey Company, winning the French Medaille Militaire early the following year. After transferring to the Hampshire Regiment in January 1918 with the rest of the Jersey Company, he was wounded in the fighting near Bailleul in April that year. Treated in Newcastle, it not clear whether he returned to active service or not.