He was born Peter Nikolaus Arthur Eduard Schwarz in Vienna, Austria on July 16, 1926, the only child of Lydia and Arthur Schwarz.  In the 1920s and 30s, the family lived in Berlin.  In 1933 they returned to Grinzing, a vineyard suburb of Vienna.  In December of 1938 his parents sent him to England on a Quaker sponsored children’s train.  He was twelve at the time and knew no English on arrival but quickly learned while being fostered by the Gaughan family in Lancashire.  He was a solid student and joined the army in 1944 at the age of seventeen.

During his service with the British Intelligence Corps his knowledge of German was essential when translation was necessary.  In 1946 he was instrumental in tracking down Joseph Grohe, who at the time was the last Nazi gauleiter at liberty.

At the end of the war he studied briefly at Dusseldorf Academy, where he was unknowingly a contemporary of Joseph Beuys, whose work he would later admire.

Upon his return to England in 1947 he took British citizenship and in October 1950 changed his name partly to please his father.

He attended St Martin’s School of Art.

Source:
www.osbornesamuel.com