Bertie was born in Dallinghoo, Suffolk, on 24th February 1890. By 1911, he had moved to London where he was working as a footman for Colonel Sir Malcolm Fox in Eaton Square. He enlisted on 3rd September 1914, joining the Coldstream Guards.

Bertie was posted to France, leaving Southampton on 22nd January 1915 and joined the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards at Bethune. He was granted leave to the UK on Boxing Day 1917 and, on the 29th December, married Eliza Camidge in Surbiton, Surrey.

On returning to France after his leave, Bertie was transferred to the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards and remained with them until the end of the war. He was discharged from the services on 18th March 1919 and for his war service, he received the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals.

In 1939, Bertie and Eliza were living in Surbiton, Surrey, where he was working as an aircraft engineer.