Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Sillitoe ya bar makaranta a lokacin da yake da shekaru 14, bayan ya kasa shiga jarrabawar shiga makarantar sakandare. Ya yi aiki a masana'antar Raleigh na shekaru hudu masu zuwa, yana ciyar da lokacinsa na kyauta yana karantawa sosai kuma yana "ƙaunar 'yan mata na gida". Ya shiga Rundunar Horar da Jirgin Sama a 1942, sannan kuma Royal Air Force, kodayake ya yi latti don yin aiki a Yaƙin Duniya na Biyu. Ya yi aiki a matsayin mai ba da sabis na mara waya a Malaya a lokacin Gaggawa
Ka yi haƙuri. Bayan ya koma Biritaniya yana shirin shiga cikin Royal Canadian Air Force lokacin da aka gano cewa yana da tarin fuka. Ya yi watanni 16 a asibitin RAF.