 Alexandra graduated from Caulfield Grammar in 1940 and worked in drafting and land surveying offices until December 1942 when he joined the RAAF.His Lancaster bomber was shot down during a strategic bombing mission on 20 January 1944 over Neubrandenburg and he was incarcerated for one year in the German war camp, Stalag Luft III.Discharged from the RAAF in 1946, he anglicised his name and began a Bachelor of Architecture at the University of Melbourne.