 In London Mansfield studied pottery at the Camberwell School of Art & Crafts, bookbinding at the Central School of Art & Crafts, and design at the Reimann School.Mansfield served with the British army from 1941 to 1946 in both England and India; he was repatriated to New Zealand but returned to London in 1947.In the late 1940s Mansfield decided to focus on bookbinding.