Mike was born on January 20, 1954 in Malaya. His father, Reginald, was in the British army, his mother, Barbara, known as Babs, an army wife. The family lived in Malaya until Mike was about 9. He sounded like a typical boy. A small, crescent shaped scar on his cheek was left from when he fell from a chair at the age of about 3, with a spoon in his hand which pierced his cheek. He had malaria as a child, not so frightening to him, but very frightening for his parents. At the age of about 10 Mike was sent to a boarding school in England, which he hated. He begged his parents to take him away, and they consequently settled as a family at Amesbury in Wiltshire, and MIke attended Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. Mike excelled at sport, a superb strong swimmer. He loved other sports too and was a member of several school teams.