Martin Sheldon Mr Sheldon was born in East Dulwich on 1st May 1921 to Harold Sheldon, a merchant engineer, and Nora Mary née Hart. He was educated at Alleyn’s Preparatory School, then at Ardingly College, where he was taught the piano, sang in the chapel choir and played plenty of cricket. On finishing at Ardingly he entered the Royal College of Organists, but after a term his father died and he took an office job, short-lived because of the onset of war. He was called up to the RAF and trained in wireless operations before being shipped to Iceland to monitor enemy movements in the Atlantic.