Worked as a general labourer before the outbreak of war and enlisted into the Huntingdonshire Cyclists as soon as it was formed.  When the battalion was posted to Filey in early 1915 he began seeing a local girl called May Ann Stork, whom he married on 11^th December 1915 and the couple decided to settle.

He was transferred to the 683^rd Agricultural Company, Army Labour Corps when the Cyclists were disbanded in late 1916 and became 434613 Pte. Abbott, presumably due to his health as many men were posted to similar places for this reason.  He died of wounds  in Cambridge Easton General Hospital a week after the armistice, although what of remains a mystery but he is buried in St. Oswald’s Churchyard.