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| unit = [[File:Uk-sas.svg|20px]] [[Special Air Service]] <br /> [[Gloucestershire Regiment]] <br /> [[Wiltshire Regiment]] |
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| battles = [[Korean War]]<br/>[[History_of_the_SAS#Oman_and_Borneo|Oman]]<br/>[[Operation Claret]]<br/>[[Aden Emergency]] |
| battles = [[Korean War]]<br/>[[History_of_the_SAS#Oman_and_Borneo|Oman]]<br/>[[Operation Claret]]<br/>[[Aden Emergency]] |
Revision as of 05:46, 28 May 2010
Donald Large | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Lofty |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1945-19?? |
Rank | Sergeant |
Service number | 5577627 |
Unit | 20px Special Air Service Gloucestershire Regiment Wiltshire Regiment |
Battles/wars | Korean War Oman Operation Claret Aden Emergency |
Awards | Mention in Despatches |
Other work | Author |
Donald "Lofty" Large (1930-November 2006) was a British soldier and author.
Early Life
Large was born in Oxfordshire, but grew up in rural Gloucestershire. He was given his nickname because of his height — he was 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).
Army Career
Large joined the Army at 15 as a "band boy". Because of a lack of vacancies, he had been unable to join his county regiment, The Glosters, so instead joined the Wiltshire Regiment. After spending five years in England, Germany and Hong Kong, he requested a transfer to the Gloucestershire Regiment and then volunteered to fight in Korea. After a combat training course in Japan, Large was deployed to the front line.[1]
With 30 other Glosters, in March 1951, he was sent to B Company's position in the low hills above the Imjin River. Their role was to defend routes through the valley that could potentially be used by Chinese troops in a southbound offensive towards Seoul. On 22 April, they engaged with Chinese troops in the Battle of Imjin. By the morning of 24 March, B Company had fought off seven assaults before they were able to rejoin the remainder of their battalion on what what became known as Gloster Hill. By this time the Battalion were low on ammunition and cut off from the British lines. Large himself was shot in the shoulder and, along with the remaining Glosters, was forced to surrender.
After a 10 day forced march north, and having received only basic medical attention, Large arrived at a prison camp outside Chongsung. He spent the next two years in the camp, and it was there that he celebrated his 21st birthday. In March 1953, he was operated on by a Chinese doctor and a tracer round was removed from his ribs. This medical attention was in fact preliminary to his being released as part of a prisoner exchange. By the time of his release, he still had limited movement in his arm and was told that if he been treated by a British doctor at the time of his injury he may have had his arm amputated.
After arriving back in the UK, Large was offered a discharge on medical grounds, which he declined. He went on to serve briefly as an instructor, in the quartermaster's stores and in the regimental police. During this time he worked on regaining his fitness and rehabilitating his arm.
Special Air Service
In 1957 Large volunteered for the SAS and successfully completed the selection course. However, soon afterwards he crashed his motorbike and therefore had to repeat selection. Having injured his ankle in the crash, he went through selection with one boot a size larger than the other in order to accommodate the bandages and swelling.[1]
He went on to serve with the SAS in Malaya, Oman, Aden and Borneo.[2]
While on SAS duty suppressing a rebellion in Oman in 1958, Large infamously lost his temper with a recalcitrant donkey:[1][3]
"All the donkey handler did was laugh. Just as I turned round, the donkey's face was right by me and it shook its head and I stuck a punch in among it somewhere, and the donkey went down like it was shot ... much to my amazement. But not to as much amazement as the donkey handler's — I've never seen a bloke sober up so quick. It was a hole in one: the donkey struggled to its feet and looked really willing to go up the hill and the donkey handler lost his laugh."
He received a mention in despatches[4] for his service in Borneo.
Personal life
Before leaving for Hong Kong with the Wiltshire Regiment, Large had met Ann, whom he eventually married after his return from Korea. They had two children, Andy and Donna.
After leaving the Army he worked in the UK and the Middle East, spending the last 14 years of his working life as a driving instructor.
He wrote two books about his time in the army: One Man's SAS and One Man's War in Korea. A third book, Soldier Against the Odds: From Infantry to SAS, was a compilation of the first two with some additional material.
Having been ill with leukaemia for three years, he died aged 76 in November 2006 at St Michael's Hospice, Hereford.[2]
Bibliography
- Large, Lofty (1987). One man's SAS. Kimber. ISBN 9780718306564.
- Large, Lofty (1988). One man's war in Korea. Kimber. ISBN 9780718306960.
- Large, Lofty (1999). Soldier Against the Odds: From Infantry to SAS. Mainstream. ISBN 9781840181432.
References
- ^ a b c Scholey, Pete. SAS Heroes: Remarkable Soldiers, Extraordinary Men. Osprey Publishing.
- ^ a b "A final battle fought with true courage". Hereford Times.
- ^ SAS:The Real Story (Television Documentary). Channel 4. September 2003. 9:48 minutes in.
- ^ "Mention in Despatches", The London Gazette