[2] His RCA studies were interrupted by the Second World War, during which he registered as a conscientious objector, and worked on rescuing people in Fulham bombed during The Blitz; this had a profound effect on him, influencing his art throughout the rest of his life.

After the war he was awarded the British Prix de Rome, but did not take up the scholarship, instead going on to work with Misha Black and then on the Dome of Discovery for the Festival of Britain.

His work was popular with both private and municipal patrons and he contributed particularly to the regeneration of Birmingham after the war through the creation of a number of iconic pieces of public art.

The Mater Dolorosa in the Lady chapel of the then recently rebuilt Coventry Cathedral is perhaps the most powerful of his religious works, which he created throughout his life.

[7] His philosophy of art and his interest in methods and materials are embodied in the book he co-wrote with his wife, the author and journalist Irene Dancyger, Clay Models and Stone Carving, 1974.