Born the son of Colonel F.H.G. Playfair of the
Hampshire Regiment and educated at
Cheltenham College, Playfair joined the
Royal Engineers in 1913. He served in France and Belgium during the
First World War and was
mentioned in despatches, awarded the
Military Cross and
Bar and the
Distinguished Service Order. Playfair became officer commanding the Gentlemen Cadets of the
Royal Marine Artillery in 1920, attended the
Staff College, Camberley, from 1929 to 1930, was chief instructor in field works and bridging at the
Royal School of Military Engineering in 1930 and an instructor at the
Indian Army Staff College in
Quetta in 1934. After attending the
Imperial Defence College in 1938, he became commandant of the
Army Gas School in Wiltshire in 1939. In 1940, following the outbreak of the
Second World War, Playfair was appointed director of plans at the
War Office. In early 1942, he was appointed deputy commander (and chief of staff) of land forces in the
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), a short-lived, supreme command for
Allied forces in
Southeast Asia and the
southwest Pacific. In 1943, Playfair was appointed to the general staff of the
11th Army Group, in the
South East Asia Command. Playfair retired in 1947. He later wrote several books, and was co-author of a
Second World War official campaign history:
The Mediterranean and Middle East. ==Family==