Percy Belgrave Lucas, (2 September 1915 – 20 March 1998), commonly known as Laddie Lucas, was a
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
officer, left-handed golfer, author and
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP).
Early life and family
Lucas was born on 2 September 1915 in the old clubhouse at Prince's
Sandwich Bay, Kent
Sandwich Bay is a long sweeping inlet of the sea between Ramsgate and Deal, on the east coast of Kent, England. The coastal area consists of sand flats with their associated salt marshes and coastal sand dunes. The ''Sandwich Flats'' stretch f ...
, the son of
Percy Montagu Lucas, co-founder of
Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich
Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich is a links golf course located in Sandwich in Kent in South East England. Prince's is immediately adjacent to the more famous Royal St George's golf club, and both clubs lie on the same stretch of coastline as nearb ...
. His father died when he was aged 11. A company of Highlanders based nearby often inquired about "the wee laddie" when he was a baby, resulting in his nickname.
[
Lucas was educated at ]Stowe School
, motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
...
, and Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
, where he read Economics. While at Cambridge, he captained the golf team, was the top amateur in the 1935 Open Championship and was considered the finest left-handed player in the world at the age of 19.
In 1946, Lucas married Jill Addison, the sister of Thelma Bader, wife of fellow flying ace Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...
, of whom he wrote a best-selling biography. The couple had five grandchildren.
Early career
After graduating from Cambridge, Lucas was interviewed by Lord Beaverbrook
William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), generally known as Lord Beaverbrook, was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics o ...
for a post on the ''Sunday Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''. He impressed Beaverbrook sufficiently that the publisher took him to supper that night and later hired him as a sports writer.[ He remained with the ''Sunday Express'' until the outbreak of war, when he volunteered for the Royal Air Force (RAF).
]
Royal Air Force
Lucas joined the RAF in June 1940 and went to Canada to undertake flying training at the Flying Training School
The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school. The school was based at R ...
as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme
The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...
. On completion of his training, he was assigned to No. 66 Squadron in August 1941, based in Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, where he flew a Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
on convoy patrols. He sought a transfer to Burma for more action but ended up at Malta instead, arriving there in February 1942. During the Battle of Malta
The Battle of Malta took place on 8 July 1283 in the entrance to the Grand Harbour, the principal harbour of Malta, as part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. An Aragonese fleet of galleys, commanded by Roger of Lauria, attacked and defeated ...
, he commanded No. 249 Squadron.
In July 1942, Lucas was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation read:
In the autumn of 1942, Lucas was assigned as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Kent
Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...
, but gave it up to his friend Michael Strutt, who was already acquainted with the duke. Two weeks later, on 25 August 1942, both were killed in an air crash when the Short Sunderland flying boat in which Strutt was also a passenger crashed into a hillside near Dunbeath
Dunbeath ( gd, Dùn Bheithe) is a village in south-east Caithness, Scotland on the A9 road. It sits astride the Dunbeath Water just before it enters the sea at Dunbeath Bay.
Dunbeath has a very rich archaeological landscape, the site of numero ...
, Caithness, in bad weather. This tragedy troubled Lucas.[
In 1943, he took command of No. 616 Squadron; later, he commanded the Spitfire wing at ]RAF Coltishall
Royal Air Force Coltishall, more commonly known as RAF Coltishall , is a former Royal Air Force station located North-North-East of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk, East Anglia, which operated from 1938 to 2006.
It was a fighter airf ...
. Lucas was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
(DSO) in January 1944. The citation read:
After an imposed rest period on ground duties, "flying a desk", in December 1944 Lucas asked to be given charge of an operational squadron again. After re-training on the two-crew Mosquito
Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...
, Lucas took over command of No. 613 Squadron (City of Manchester) Squadron equipped with Mosquitos and based at Cambrai-Épinoy in France (Nord department). He immediately resumed his practice of "leading from the front", which gained the respect of the highly experienced squadron air crews. The squadron was involved in low-level tactical support missions and strikes. Between 1944 and 1945, he served with RAF Second Tactical Air Force
The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...
in North-West Europe. He was awarded a Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
to his DSO in October 1945 for making numerous attacks on enemy communications, often in appalling weather conditions. He resigned his commission in 1945.
Postwar career
After the war, he was encouraged to fight the 1945 general election as a Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
and stood for Fulham West
Fulham West was a borough constituency based in the London district of Fulham. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1955.
At the 1918 general election the previous Fulham cons ...
, where he lost to the sitting Member of Parliament (MP), Edith Summerskill
Edith Clara Summerskill, Baroness Summerskill, (19 April 1901 – 4 February 1980) was a British physician, feminist, Labour politician and writer. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1949.
Early life
Summerskill was educated at King' ...
, one of Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
's most prominent women in government
In many countries, women have been underrepresented in the government and different institutions. This historical tendency still persists, although women are increasingly being elected to be heads of state and government.
As of October 20 ...
following their landslide. At the 1950 general election, he was elected as Conservative MP for Brentford and Chiswick. He held the seat at the next two elections, but retired at the 1959 general election.
He wrote a popular column for the ''Sunday Express'', and authored several books on golf and airmen around the world, as well as an idiosyncratic but much-admired history of the Second World War Siege of Malta.
Lucas played in the 1947 and 1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis ...
Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...
team, being the captain in 1949. After the war, he was an administrator on the Sports Council
Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...
. Although an amateur, he was influential in the founding of the professional tour in Europe in the early 1970s. At the time of his death, he was serving as a vice-president of both the Golf Foundation and the Association of Golf Writers.
In 1957 he became the Managing Director of the Greyhound Racing Association
The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...
replacing Francis Gentle who remained as Chairman of the company.
He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
in 1981.
In April 1984, Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...
surprised Lucas for '' This Is Your Life''.
Lucas died at home in Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
on 20 March 1998.
Memorials
There is a commemorative plaque at Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich
Prince's Golf Club, Sandwich is a links golf course located in Sandwich in Kent in South East England. Prince's is immediately adjacent to the more famous Royal St George's golf club, and both clubs lie on the same stretch of coastline as nearb ...
by the 3rd tee on the Himalayas course which marks the spot where Lucas used his local knowledge of the course to make an emergency landing after his Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...
was crippled over northern France during the war. A golf tournament for boys and girls aged 8–13 years, the "Laddie Lucas Spoon", is held annually at Prince's.
Publications
* ''Five Up: A Chronicle of Five Lives'' (1978)
* ''The Sport of Princes: Reflections of a Golfer'' (1980)
* ''Flying Colours: The Epic Story of Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, (; 21 February 1910 – 5 September 1982) was a Royal Air Force flying ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 22 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared ...
'' (1981)
* ''Wings of War: Airmen of All Nations Tell Their Stories'' (1983)
* ''Out of the Blue: Role of Luck in Air Warfare, 1917–66'' (1985)
* ''Malta: The Thorn in Rommel's Side – Six Months That Turned the War'' (1992)
* ''Voices In The Air 1939–1945''
* ''Thanks for the Memory: Unforgettable Characters in Air Warfare, 1939–45''
* ''Great Battles: Courage in the Skie''
* ''Venturer Courageous: Group Captain Leonard Trent, VC, DFC'' (with James Sanders)
* ''Courage in the Skies: Great Air Battles from the Somme to Desert Storm ''(with Johnnie Johnson)
* ''Glorious Summer: Story of the Battle of Britain'' (with Johnnie Johnson)
* ''Winged Victory: A Last Look Back – The Personal Reflections of Two Royal Air Force Leaders'' (with Johnnie Johnson)
* ''The Maltese Spitfire: 1942 – One Pilot and One Plane Searching for the Enemy on Land and Sea'' (with Harry Coldbeck)
* ''John Jacobs' Impact on Golf – the man and his methods, 1987
Team appearances
Amateur
*Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...
(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1936
Events
January–February
* January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...
, 1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...
, 1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis ...
(playing captain)
References
External links
*
Imperial War Museum 1989 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Percy
Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Amateur golfers
British World War II pilots
English male golfers
Left-handed golfers
English male journalists
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
People educated at Stowe School
Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
Royal Air Force officers
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
1915 births
1998 deaths
People in greyhound racing