[1] Appointed in the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in August 1888, he was stationed in British India by January 1890, as he appeared in an amateur cricket match for Bombay Gymkhana in that month.
[1][2] Anderson was promoted to lieutenant on 26 March 1890 and the following month transferred to the Indian Staff Corps.
[1][3] He appeared in a second amateur match in December 1892 for Poona Gymkhana against Lord Hawke's XI during their tour of Ceylon and India in 1892-93.
[9] At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Anderson was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and became the second-command of the 9th Bhopal Infantry.
[1][10] The battalion was deployed to France, where Anderson was killed in action on 29 October 1914 by a shell near La Gorgue.