Commissioned in to the Norfolk Regiment as a Lieutenant on the 30th January 1886, and joined their 1st Battalion.
In the South Africa war of 1899-1902 he held a number of Officer Staff appointments, initially as a Staff Captain to a Commandant of the Lines of Communications. On the 29th December 1899 he was appointed Deputy-Assistant Adjutant General (with the local rank of Major) this was a position he held until 14th November 1900. He also received a mention in despatches for his service in the South African War.
As Captain (Brevet Major) he was appointed Adjutant of the 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment on the 15th March 1902, a position he held until 7th December 1904.
He was appointed to command the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment in March 1912, then stationed at Parkhurst, Isle of Wight. In 1913 he took the 1st Battalion to Egypt (Alexandria and Cairo). At the out break of the First World War in 1914, he brought the 1st Battalion back to the England, arriving at Liverpool on the 16th October 1914.
Back in England the battalion joined the 24th Brigade and sailed for France in November that year.
He was invalid home from France in December 1914. Received a mention in despatches (London Gazette 17/02/1915).
Lieut.-Colonel A. E. Lascelles
1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment Officers - Cairo, Egypt, 1914
Back row: Lieut. K. W. Wilkins, 2/Lieut. Hamilton-Cox, 2/Lieut. F. C.
Roberts, 2/Lieut. L. G. Phillips,
2/Lieut. J. H. Tristram.
Second row: Lieut. & Qr.-Mr. C. Henson, Lieut. E. L. G. Lawrence, Lieut.
E. O. Underhill, Lieut. C. F. G. Crawford, Lieut. J. F. Leman, Lieut. J. S.
Veasey.
Front row: Captain T. K. Pardoe, Captain G. W. St. G. Grogan, Major E. C. F.
Wodehouse, D.S.O., Lieut.-Colonel A. E. Lascelles, Major B. K. W.
Bacon, Captain & Adjutant J. F. S. Winnington,
Captain T. Fitzjohn