He was born in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, England and, after attending Sherborne School, trained as a chartered accountant. He joined the Royal Naval Supplementary Volunteer Reserve but, having learned Swedish, was sent in 1940 to the British embassy in Stockholm as Assistant Naval Attache, and remained there for the rest of the war. During Operation Rheinübung, together with his superior, Captain Henry Denham, he obtained details of the current position of the "Bismarck" - this information then led to its chase and eventual sinking by the British Navy. In 1943, he met and married Marianne Syk - their marriage continued until his death. Towards the end of his life, he wrote and published a memoir, "Observed Secretly: Northern Window" about his experiences during the War.