Robert Arthur Phayre DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 (4 January 1901 in Maidenhead

Maidenhead

Maidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...

, Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 – 31 December 1993 in Camberley

Camberley

Camberley is a town in Surrey, England, situated 31 miles  southwest of central London, in the corridor between the M3 and M4 motorways. The town lies close to the borders of both Hampshire and Berkshire; the boundaries intersect on the western edge of the town where all three counties...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

) was a British soldier and cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er.

Biography

After playing Minor counties cricket

Minor counties of English cricket

The Minor Counties are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that are not afforded first-class status. The game is administered by the Minor Counties Cricket Association which comes under the England and Wales Cricket Board...

 for Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire County Cricket Club

Oxfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Oxfordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...

 in 1922 and 1923 he began to serve in the Army, playing cricket whilst stationed overseas. In 1924 he played for the Straits Settlements

Straits Settlements cricket team

The Straits Settlements cricket team was the team that represented the Straits Settlements in international cricket matches between 1890 and 1940.-History:...

 against the Federated Malay States

Federated Malay States cricket team

The Federated Malay States cricket team was a team that represented the Federated Malay States in international cricket matches between 1905 and 1940. Cricket has been played in Peninsular Malaysia since the 1880s, and the Federated Malay States usually combined with the Straits Settlements cricket...

 and for Malaya

Malaya cricket team

The Malaya cricket team was a team that represented the combined territories of the Federated Malay States and the Straits Settlements in various international cricket matches between 1906 and 1961.-Early days:...

 against Shanghai

Shanghai cricket team

The Shanghai cricket team was a cricket team that played various international matches between 1866 and 1948. With cricket in the rest of China almost non-existent, for that period they were the de facto Chinese national side.-History:...

 and Hong Kong

Hong Kong cricket team

The Hong Kong cricket team represents Hong Kong in international cricket. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1969....

, and in 1929, played two first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

 matches in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

His cricket career ended in 1930 with two final matches for Oxfordshire and he served in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, during which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 for his part in the D-Day landings.