In his mid thirties and undoubtedly very handsome and dashing. He's been brought up correctly, attending the right schools and colleges (Oxford, the only college). But World War One changed his life forever. Commissioned as a Lieutenant in The Royal Rutland Lancers, he was one of those “never say die, never will”, type of chaps. But during Christmas 1916, when German and British troops declared a truce to celebrate the Yuletide and play an improvised game of football, he was hit in the head. Not by any bullet, but a sodden leather football (during a controversial penalty incident) which had just the same effect. Convinced that he had died and saw Heaven (in reality an attending nurse with white head gear and Red Cross) he was invalided out of the service, for his own safety and that of his men.
He began to travel the world, determined to understand life's mysteries. In India, he met a fakir, Swami Banup Muzaffarnagar, who, for a mere £9,000, provided him with a mantra and insightful doctrine to which he has always adhered, “ there's nowt as queer as folk” . Thank heavens for Abbercrombie.