Colonel Harold Carmichael Wylly was born in Meerut 1858 in the North West Province of India he was the son of E.M. Wylly, a judge in the High Court of Agra. Harold was the author of many regimental histories of The Sherwood Foresters and other regiments. He was educated at Henley Grammar School, Wimbledon School and the Royal Military college at Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the 95th Foot (Derbyshire Regiment) and served in the Egypt Campaign of 1882, being promoted to Captain on 1st May 1884, served in the Sikkim Campaign in 1888, promoted to Major on 26th May 1893, and served in the Tirah Campaign 1897-98. In February 1900, he joined the 1st Battalion of his regiment and embarked with them for South Africa where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Battalion. For services in the war, he was Mentioned in Despatches  and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the South Africa honours list. The Battalion stayed in South Africa until after the war, later transporting on the SS Wakool to a new posting in China in September 1902. From 1907, Colonel Wylly published works on military topics during the build up to the First World War, and in 1929 he was awarded the Chesney Gold Medal, the highest award of the Royal United Services Institute.