Arthur Willis (athlete)

Arthur Gilbert de Laval Willis (25 August 1893 – 5 April 1979) was an Anglican clergyman and British athlete.

William Newcombe Willis, founder of Ascham St Vincent's School, Eastbourne, East Sussex, he was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge (BA 1926, MA 1929).

[3] During the First World War he reached the rank of lieutenant in the Royal Navy,[4][5] He later served with the Tank Corps, holding the rank of lieutenant at the time of his participation in the 1924 Olympics[6] and that of major at the time of his ordination.

[7][8] Willis finished second behind Larry Stanley in the high jump event at the 1924 AAA Championships.

When his father retired in 1927, Willis took over Ascham St Vincent's School, running it until 1938, when he closed and sold the school and resumed his military career in light of the situation in Europe that led to the Second World War.