He resigned his commission on 28 January 1907. On 9 June 1908, he was commissioned a major, commanding the Wiltshire Battery, 3rd Wessex Brigade, Royal Field Artillery This Territorial formation was sent to India during the First World War and subsequently served in the Mesopotamian campaign. On 21 April 1917, at the Battle of Istabulat, Suffolk was killed by shrapnel through the heart while commanding his battery. He is buried at Basra War Cemetery, Iraq.