Cyril was born on 16 March 1916 in Hull, Yorkshire to Samuel and Rachel nee Blumenthal and he had two older sisters Blanche and Kitty. In 1921, the family lived at 46 Arlington Street, Hull and Samuel was listed as running his own company as a bespoke tailor. By 1939, the family were living at 727 Beverley High Road, Hull and Cyril was working as a tailor’s cutter and a volunteer ambulance driver. Cyril’s obituary in the Jewish Chronicle states that he volunteered at the outbreak of war and was accidently killed and is buried in Tobruk Cemetery, Libya.