Cyril Brooks was seven years old when his father died. In 1911, at age 13 he emigrated with his mother to Canada. Their first winter was spent in a tent in Edmonton, Alberta. The following year they moved to Victoria, British Columbia. Cyril joined the Canadian Army at age 16 during World War I. At the battle of Yprés he was seriously gassed and spent the next year and a half in a hospital. In 1922 he did missionary work with Alvin J. Sauer in New Liscard, Ontario, North Bay.