British military records on Ancestry.com shows that George enlisted on 10 September 1914 and was allocated to the East Surrey Regiment. He went to France with the British expecitionary Force on 30 August 1915, serving there for 45 days in the Ist Battalion Machine Gun Corps and reaching the rank of Cpl. He was then in England from 14 September until 10 December 1915 before returning to France where he served until 15 February 1919. He then seems to have served for two years in the peacetime Army as a corporal.

His military records indicate that he remained unmarried throughout the war and his mother was Caroline Setter living at 3 Eswyn Rd Tooting in London. The London electoral rolls show him living with his parents at Tooting at the time of the 1922, 1925 and 1926 elections.