Peyton, Mike

Mike Peyton lied about his age to join the Army at the start of the Second World War. He spent much of the war in a prisoner of war camp, but escaped to join and fight with the Russian Red Army (told in his memoir An Average War).

Mike began sketching as a boy and, after the war, trained at Manchester Art School. He also discovered boating, spending his wedding night camping besides the Thames in London, having got there by canoe! He worked as a freelance cartoonist for New Scientist, Yachting Monthly and Practical Boat Owner, to name but a few.

Mike has had over 18 books of yachting cartoons published and in 2016 was dubbed ‘the Picasso of sailing’ by the Yachting Journalist Association. He passed away in late January 2017, a few days after his 96th birthday.