When war broke out Detective Sergeant Arthur Vivian Lander was serving in the Vine Street police Station, Piccadilly.

In 1915 he joined the Intelligence Headquarters of the British Expeditionary Force in Flanders as a ‘Special Security Officer.’ He transferred into the Intelligence Corp in 1917 and fulfilled the same role for the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force in Salonika.

Captain Lander was mentioned in Despatches on 29th August 1918 and was presented with his award of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Constantinople on 21st August 1921.