 He was educated at Maryborough Central State School and Maryborough Boys Grammar School and in 1937 joined the railway ambulance before becoming a locomotive driver in 1941.From 1941 to 1946 he joined the 2/15 Australian Field Ambulance where he was discharged at the rank of sergeant.On 23 January 1937 he married Edna Elizabeth Langusch with whom he had one daughter.