Christie was born in Hertfordshire, the son of a Scottish illustrator and an English mother who died when he was twelve. The family then moved back to Glasgow where his only brother also died. Fyffe was a quiet introverted boy, good-natured and humorous but modest and reserved. He eventually became in succession a solicitor's clerk and a lithographic draughtsman, and then in 1944 as a piper in the 9th battalion of the Cameronians was involved in stretchering the heavy casualties of the north European battlefields, an experience he never afterwards spoke of. He had already developed a good drawing technique and made many sketches of the quieter side of army life, most of which are now in military museums. After the war he attended Glasgow School of Art specialising in mural painting and some of his large murals are still in existence.