Rupert Solley was born on 18 July 1910. At the age of 12 he won an open scholarship to the Grocers' School, and from there he won another scholarship to St Catherine's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he belonged to a successful band: he played the violin, and they toured the streets on a beer barre

Eric Price Clarke was born on 14 October 1913 at Blackburn, Lancs, the only child of Lancashire-born parents; his father, a graduate of Manchester University, was a schoolmaster, later joining the Home Office as an Inspector of Factories. Eric was educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Blackbur