John served with the 24th Royal Artillery Missile Regiment in Germany, and then transferred to the Royal Military Police, serving in Germany, the Middle East and Hong Kong. Later he worked as Chief Security Officer for the King of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. Arriving back in England in the early 70s, John worked on Deep Sea Trawlers sailing out of the Grimsby Fish Docks and for 28 years was an HGV Class 1 Petroleum Tanker Driver and then Driver Foreman, later becoming a property developer in the Grimsby area. He married June, a local girl, in 1977, and has been happily married for 39 years, raising two boys. Beginning to write and illustrate books in his spare time, he now has 44 written and illustrated published books and 16 illustrated published books by other well-known authors to his credit. He is a canoe and Judo Club instructor.