Private Thomas Bush was born in the Parish of St. George's, London in October 1878 and enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry at Dalston in April 1900, aged 21 years. Posted to the 2nd Battalion in South Africa in May of the following year, he served as a Mounted Infantryman until the end of hostilities. Transferred to the 1st Battalion in January 1903, Bush returned home in April 1906 and was finally discharged in April 1912, after several years on the Reserve.