Having returned to Britain for his schooling, he joined the Hitchin Company of the Hertfordshire Regiment as a Boy Bugler in November 1909, serving as a part-time territorial soldier.

In January 1915 he was passed fit and was posted with a reinforcement draft to 1/1st Battalion, Hertfordshire Regiment, then serving as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front.

After a period of recovery Young was selected for officer training and was subsequently commissioned as a second lieutenant on 27 April 1917,[2] being posted to a reserve battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment in Britain.

Following an interlude training with the Royal Flying Corps, Young returned to the infantry and was sent to rejoin the 1/1st Hertfordshires in France on 12 September 1918, being appointed commander of No.

Throughout four hours of intense hand-to-hand fighting 2nd Lt. Young displayed the utmost valour and devotion to duty, and set an example to which the company gallantly responded.