[1] With the outbreak of the First World War, Tait joined the Royal Canadian Engineers as a sapper before being commissioned into the London Regiment of the British Army in 1916.

On his return to the United Kingdom, Tait was appointed to signals staff officer duties.

At the same time or not long afterward he was seconded to the Egyptian Army Air Force which he effectively founded, flying eight aircraft to Cario.

In August 1942 Tait was made Director-General of Signals,[4] a post he until he retired from the Air Force in 1946.

After the war Tait joined the British Overseas Airways Corporation, working as its operations director from 1945 to 1956.