John Vivian O'Carroll (known as Jack) left England in 1926 and went to work as an accountant for the Turkish Railways. Later he worked in Khartoum, Sudan for over a year before returning to Turkey and marrying Helen Edith Turrell in 1935. By the end of 1935 the family went to live in England at Hindhead and then Llandudno, Wales where Jack became the bursar at Louther College, a school for girls. The family sailed for Africa in November 1937 first living in Rhodesia and then South Africa.