Born in London, England, on 30 April 1890, the son of Brigadier-General Acton Lemuel Schreiber, Edmond Charles Acton Schreiber was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, from where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the British Army's Royal Field Artillery on 23 December 1909.

[3] He served in the First World War with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, earning the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in December 1914, the citation for which reads: Very gallant conduct on 14th September in saving horses which had become entangled in blocked road, and man-handling guns away from a position which had become untenable from a very heavy shell fire, continuing to work, although wounded.

[4][5]He was also four times mentioned in dispatches and ended the war as a brevet major, having been promoted to that rank on 1 January 1918.

In May 1942 he received the rank of temporary lieutenant-general,[10] and in July that year he was appointed to command the British First Army (in reality an Anglo-American formation) which was later to be the parent organisation for Allied forces in French North Africa after Operation Torch in November.

[12][failed verification][1] He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Devon in 1948 and National President of the Old Contemptibles Association in 1960.