[3] When World War II broke out he was evacuated, as was most of the civilian population of Gibraltar, with his family across the strait to French Morocco.

Only a few weeks later, following the defeat of France and the armistice with Germany, the French authorities expelled the evacuees which the War Office then decided to transfer to London via Gibraltar.

They lived in the Evacuee Centre at the Empire Pool in Wembley until they were once again relocated to a camp in County Antrim, Northern Ireland in 1944.

Still a young boy, Finlayson attended the Gibraltar Grammar School following his repatriation to The Rock, once the war had ended.

[1] Finlayson later opted for a career in teaching, which he pursued in the United Kingdom and continued in Gibraltar upon his return in 1980.