Herbert was born in 1885, was a letter sorter and telegraphist at his local Post Office in the village of Acle in rural Norfolk. In December 1915, presumably caught in the fervour of the Derby Scheme, the last-ditch attempt at voluntary recruiting before conscription was deemed essential, he “attested”, that is, voluntarily committed himself to joining the Army. This could have nullified an attempt to register as a conscientious objector in early 1916, but, perhaps because he had, on humanitarian grounds - he was a member of the Congregational (now United Reformed) Church - expressed a preference for the Royal Army Medical Corps, he was allowed to claim CO status at his local Tribunal. He was exempted from combatant service, but directed to the Non-Combatant Corps, specially created for COs, not to the RAMC. Enlisted in the 1st Eastern Company, NCC, on 9 March 1916, he was posted to France on 21 April, and served until he was taken ill on 23 November 1918 and died in Etaples Military Hospital on 27 November.

He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, L1 C 22