He was born in Tunbridge Wells in Kent on 31 March 1920 the son of Eric Lawrence Wildy (1890–1973) an electrical engineer, and his wife, Gwendolen Leete (1890–1982).
He studied Medicine at Cambridge University graduating MB ChB, and completed his medical training at St Thomas Hospital, London.
[1] He was called up and did his National Service as a medical officer with the Kings West African Rifles, serving in Nigeria, India and Egypt.
Housing was in short supply, so he bought Happy Medium, a retired RAF air-sea rescue launch, which was moored initially on the Cornish side of the Tamar.
When he obtained a fellowship at St Thomas's Hospital in London, he sailed the Happy Medium to the more convenient location of Shoreham-by-Sea, near Brighton.
[1] He subsequently was at the Department of Pathology at University of Cambridge where he worked on herpes simplex virus and met Michael Stoker, who would have a significant impact on his career.
[1] By 1959 he was brought to the new Medical Research Council (Experimental Virology Unit) in Glasgow by Michael Stoker, its founding director.