christopher hanby baillie reynolds was born 29 july 1922 in st albans, england; his father was the registrar of the corporation of the sons of the clergy. christopher's school education was at winchester college. his honour mods studies including modern languages at new college, oxford were interrupted in 1942 by world war ii war service in italy, taking him after the war (but still in the army) to sri lanka (then ceylon) where he was fascinated by the sinhalese language, script and culture. after the war, with a forlong scholarship, he gained a ba degree in sinhalese at soas.