He was educated at Bradfield College, where he played football, tennis, squash and athletics for the school, and was captain of cricket.
He was Victor Ludorum at the public school sports event held at White City in 1938, winning the discus and the high jump.
He was wounded by shrapnel during the Bristol Blitz, and was commissioned as an officer in The Royal Berkshire Regiment before transferring to the Indian Army.
He was attacked by a bear in Kashmir, and then volunteered for service in Burma, where he commanded a Pashtun company in the 4th Battalion of the 12th Frontier Force Regiment in 17th Division, a reconnaissance unit.
He was mentioned in dispatches and promoted to acting lieutenant colonel, taking charge of thousands of Japanese prisoners.
He was also relatively unsuccessful on a personal level, scoring 1,671 runs in 116 innings in first-class cricket, at a batting average of 15.61.