Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I whānau a Osborne ki Orange, New South Wales, ā, i kuraina ia ki North Sydney High School me Sydney Church of England Grammar School. I whiwhi ia i te tohu mo te ture mai i te Whare Wananga o Sydney. I uru ia ki te Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve i te 1938, a, i te pakarutanga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, i tukuna ia ki te Royal Navy i te tau 1940. I whakawhiwhia ki a ia he Tohu Ratonga Motuhake i te tau 1940 mo te "tohe me te pono ki te mahi" i a ia e awhina ana i te
te tangohanga o ngā ope mai i Norway hei kaihautū tuarua i runga i te "St Loman", he kaipuke tarakihi patu. I muri mai ka whakahaua e ia, ka whakahaeretia e ia nga kaipuke i waenga i te United States me Canada me te United Kingdom i te Pakanga o te Atlantic. E 22 nga wa i whiti ai ia i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, a ko ia anake te rangatira o te Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve i eke ki te rangatira o te Royal Navy destroyer i te pakanga. I te tau 1945 i taapirihia he Bar ki tana DSC mo te whakangaromanga o te kaipuke U-Tiamana.