Editing Len Deighton (section)

===Early life and early career: 1929–1961===
Leonard Cyril Deighton was born in [[Marylebone]], London, on 18 February 1929.{{sfn|"Len Deighton". ''Contemporary Authors''}}{{sfn|Dawson Scott|2006b}} His birth was in the infirmary of a [[workhouse]] as the local hospital was full.{{sfn|Masters|1985|p=21}} His father was the chauffeur and mechanic for [[Campbell Dodgson]], the [[List of keepers of the British Museum#Keepers of Prints and Drawings|Keeper of Prints and Drawings]] at the [[British Museum]]; Deighton's mother was a part-time cook. At the time the family lived in [[Gloucester Place Mews]] near [[Baker Street]].{{sfn|"The Deighton File". 26 May 2009|loc=Event occurs at 4:20–4:50}}{{sfn|Dawson Scott|2006a|p=43}} In 1940, during the [[Second World War]], the eleven-year-old Deighton witnessed the arrest of [[Anna Wolkoff]], a British subject of Russian descent for whom his mother cooked; Wolkoff was detained as a [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] spy and charged with stealing correspondence between [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].{{sfn|Masters|1987|p=257}}{{efn|In November 1940 Wolkoff was found guilty of breaching the [[Official Secrets Act 1911]] and sentenced to ten years in prison.{{sfn|"Secrets Case Ended". ''The Times''}}}} Deighton said that observing her arrest was "a major factor in my decision to write a spy story at my first attempt at fiction".{{sfn|Campbell|1992|p=101}}

Deighton was educated at [[St Marylebone Grammar School|St Marylebone Grammar]] and [[William Ellis School|William Ellis]] schools, but was moved to an emergency school for part of the Second World War.{{sfn|Buckton|2012|p=55}}{{sfn|"Len Deighton". ''The Guardian''}}{{efn|Emergency schools were those set up during the Second World War to cope with the influx of [[Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II|children evacuated out of cities]], and the conscription of teachers into the armed forces.{{sfn|Gosden|2013|pp=17–18, 36}}}} After leaving school Deighton worked as a railway clerk{{sfn|Masters|1987|p=258}} before being [[Conscription in the United Kingdom|conscripted]] for [[national service]] at the age of 17, which he completed with the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF). While in the RAF he was trained as a photographer, often recording crime scenes with the [[Special Investigation Branch]] (SIB) of the military police as part of his duties.{{sfn|Buckton|2012|p=55}}{{sfn|Masters|1987|p=258}} During his work with the SIB he learned to fly and became an experienced [[scuba diver]].{{sfn|Macdonald|1992|p=35}}

After two-and-a-half years with the RAF, Deighton received a [[Demobilisation of the British Armed Forces after the Second World War|demobilisation grant]], enabling him to study at [[Saint Martin's School of Art]] where he won a scholarship to the [[Royal College of Art]]; he graduated from the college in 1955.{{sfn|Dawson Scott|2006b}}{{sfn|Milward-Oliver|1987|p=11}} While studying he held a temporary job in 1951 as a [[pastry chef]] at the [[Royal Festival Hall]].{{sfn|Macdonald|1992|p=35}} He worked as a [[flight attendant]] for [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]] (BOAC) between 1956 and 1957 before becoming a professional illustrator. Much of his work as an illustrator was in advertising—he worked for agencies in New York and London—but he also illustrated magazines and over 200 book covers, including for the first UK edition of [[Jack Kerouac]]'s 1957 work ''[[On the Road]]''.{{sfn|Dawson Scott|2006a|p=43}}{{sfn|Buckton|2012|p=55}}{{sfn|Brown|1987|p=12}}