He was born at I St Johns Rd Plymouth and worked in Charterhouse Sq as a wholesale drapers asst . He was a war time volunteer who joined the Royal Garrison Artillery as a gunner on 26 Aug 1914 and was discharged to a commission in the 11th Battalion Devonshire Regiment on 13 Aug 1915 . The 11th Devons were a home service unit and following the formation of the Machine Gun Corps (MGC) .

Second Lieutentant Commins was posted to that unit in 1916 , he crossed from Folkestone to Boulogne on 16 Oct  and was  sent to the Machine Gun Base Depot , which was at Camiers , nr Boulogne . He was posted to the 150th Company MGC on 19 Oct 1916 , this unit was part of the 50th Northumbrian Division. He was sent on an anti-aircraft course on the 18 Jan 1917 , and rejoined the unit on the 28 Jan . He was sent to the Machine Gun School at Camiers on 24 Feb , returning on the 17 Mar. During the Battle of Arras, in the 50th Divisions engagement at Wancourt , he was posted as missing on the 23 Apr 1917 , and afterwards accepted as having been killed on that date and is commemorated on the Arras Memorial Bay 10.