 William Yates was born in 1921, son of William Yates and Mrs. John T. Renshaw of Appleby, Westmorland and educated at Uppingham School and Hertford College, Oxford.He entered the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) early in 1942 during the Second World War, and served through the war in North Africa and Italy, gaining rank of Captain in 1946.He lost a leg at the knee at the First Battle of El Alamein and became one of the first soldiers given penicillin.