21 SECOND/BACK ROW FINISHER Alan Herring Parnaby MBE OBE – RUGBY PLAYING CRICKETER WITH ROYAL CONNECTIONS

Alan Herring Parnaby was born in Sunderland in 1916 and died in Camberley in 1974 . He took up rugby late in life and played in the second and back row in the late 1930s. He was an outstanding cricketer and played for Sunderland, Durham, the Minor Counties, the Combined Services and the MCC and may have played at a higher level consistently if not for the war.    His father was a ship builder working for Short Brothers and the family lived in Brookland Road near to the then General Hospital. He married at Christ Church in 1940. Having joined the army from OCTU in 1939 and serving in Army Ordnance throughout the war , he eventually reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in the RAOC. He took part in the Normandy Landings and was still active on the continent in 1946. For his services he was given an MBE. He was awarded an OBE in 1958 for post war services and later became a brigadier and aide -de -camp to Queen Elizabeth II.

Much online about his cricket in particular