He was born in Tottenham, the son of a grocer and was awarded a foundation scholarship to St Albans School in 1894.
[2][3] and obtained a substantive post in 1908,[4] and appointment as an assistant transport clerk in 1910.
[5] Following the Agadir Crisis in 1911, he worked under Graeme Thomson on the plans for getting the British Expeditionary Force to France in the event of war.
The result of their work was that in the British Expeditionary Force was speedily deployed to France after World War I broke out.
Following his formal retirement, he served as director of producer gas vehicles and then Transport Commissioner for the Eastern Region.