On leaving Harrow, Lance Royle entered the RMA Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery in 1918. In May 1920 he produced a remarkable series of performances at an Allied Forces Meeting in Paris when, in the space of one afternoon, he took three first places (100, 200, 110H), one second (triple jump), and two thirds (200H, long jump). He was a member of the Surrey AC medley relay team that won the AAA title three times (1922-24) and, individually, he won the Army 100 y in 1920, the Southern Counties 100 y and 220 y in 1923 and, at the AAA Championships, he placed second in the 100 y in 1922 and third in 1924. The high point of his career came at the 1924 Olympics when he was a member of the 4×100 relay that progressively improved the UK record in each of their three outings, and won the silver medals. Royle resigned his Army commission in 1921 to join Unilever and during a highly successful business career was a director of many major business firms. He was awarded the KBE in 1944.
Personal Bests: 100y – 10.1 (1922/24); 220y – 22.2 (1925).
Great Britain