Toovey was educated at Malvern College and commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 9th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment from the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps on 3 May 1913.
[1] He served with his regiment during the early part of the First World War before transferring to the Indian Army in 1917,[2] where he was attached to the 82nd Punjabis.
He was awarded the Military Cross (MC) for organising and leading a counterattack when in command of his battalion in 1919 on the North West Frontier.
[1][3] After attending the Staff College, Quetta from 1924 to 1925,[4] he was awarded a bar to his MC for gallantry during operations on the North West Frontier during 1930–31.
[5] He was appointed Commanding Officer (CO) of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment in January 1937 then Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General at General Headquarters, India in April 1939.