Leslie Thomas, John Kirkham, Henry Buckton 50796451733) (Thomas cropped)

Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel ''

The Virgin Soldiers ''The Virgin Soldiers'' is a 1966 comic novel by Leslie Thomas, inspired by his own experiences of National Service in the British Army. It was Thomas' debut novel; he had previously published an autobiography. ''The Virgin Soldiers'' sold mill ...

''.

Early life

Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was orphaned at the age of 12, when his

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

father was lost at sea and his mother died only a few months later from cancer. He was subsequently brought up in a

Dr Barnardo Thomas John Barnardo (4 July 184519 September 1905) was an Irish-born philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor and deprived children. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1867 to the date of Barnardo's death, ne ...

's home; the story of this upbringing was the subject of his first, autobiographical, book, ''This Time Next Week''. Thomas attended Kingston Technical School and he then took a course in journalism at South-West Essex Technical College in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

. In 1949 he was called up for

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

and embarked on a two-year

tour of duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

with the

Royal Army Pay Corps The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992. History The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before t ...

. While there he was briefly involved with the military action against communist rebels in the

Malayan emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War was a guerrilla war fought in British Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) and the military forces o ...

. He also began to write short articles for publication in English newspapers.

Career

Upon his return to England in 1951, Thomas resumed his work for the local newspaper group in north London where he had worked before his National Service, but within five years he was working for the

Exchange Telegraph Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

news agency, now

Extel The Exchange Telegraph Co. Ltd. (also known as Extel) was created in March 1872 specifically to distribute financial and business information from the London Stock Exchange and other commercial markets direct to subscribers. The company establishe ...

, and eventually with the ''

London Evening News The ''London Evening News'' was a newspaper whose first issue was published on 14 August 1855. Usually, when people mention the ''London Evening News'', they are actually referring to '' The Evening News'', published in London from 1881 to 1980, ...

'' newspaper, first as a sub-editor, later as a reporter. He stayed with the ''

Evening News Evening News may refer to: Television news *''CBS Evening News'', an American news broadcast *''ITV Evening News'', a UK news broadcast *'' JNN Evening News'', a Japanese news broadcast *''Evening News'', an alternate name for '' News Hour'' in so ...

'' until 1965, when he embarked full-time on his writing career. In 1984, Thomas published ''In My Wildest Dreams'' recounting his childhood in South Wales, his days in Doctor Barnardo's homes in London, his National Service in the Far East, and his career in journalism. His novels about 1950s British

such as ''

'' spawned two film versions, in 1969 and 1977, while his ''

Tropic of Ruislip Tropic of Ruislip is a 1974 novel by British author Leslie Thomas. It explores the British class divide and themes such as wife swapping. The title refers to Ruislip, one of London's outer suburbs, but the book is set in another suburb, Carpe ...

'' and '' Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective'' have been adapted for television (the former as ''Tropic'' in 1979 and the latter having also spawned a film version, in 1981 and a TV series in 2003 with

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...

). He was a subject of the television programme '' This Is Your Life'' in 1979 when he was surprised by

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 ...

at a Barnardo’s hostel in Kingston, Surrey. His experiences as a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

conscript Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

in the Far East during the height of the Malayan emergency were recalled when he appeared in the

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

documentary ''Caught in the Draft'' in 1985. He joined ex-RAF national serviceman

Bob Monkhouse Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', ''Celebrity Squares'', ''Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'. Early ...

and BBC Radio 2 drivetime presenter John Dunn in a programme filled with reminiscences about their years in uniform. He was also featured in the short-lived

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

show ''Time of My Life'' in 1983. The show was presented by

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

and Thomas was reunited with National Service colleague Reg Wilcock for the first time in 32 years. They duetted on "

Tumbling Tumbleweeds "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" is a song composed by Bob Nolan. Although one of the most famous songs associated with the Sons of the Pioneers, the song was composed by Nolan in the 1930s, while working as a caddy and living in Los Angeles. Originally ti ...

", a song they used to sing frequently at the Liberty Club in Singapore. Thomas was the subject of the first edition of BBC Wales' series ''Great Welsh Writers'', broadcast on BBC One Wales on 25 February 2013. The programme featured interviews with Thomas, Peter Grosvenor,

Frederick Forsyth Frederick McCarthy Forsyth (born 25 August 1938) is an English novelist and journalist. He is best known for thrillers such as ''The Day of the Jackal'', ''The Odessa File'', '' The Fourth Protocol'', '' The Dogs of War'', ''The Devil's Alter ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

, as well as archive clips from earlier programmes.

Honours

In the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

List published 31 December 2004, he was made an Officer 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 ...

for services to literature. He died in

Salisbury, Wiltshire Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

after a lengthy illness on 6 May 2014, aged 83.

Bibliography

Biographical *''This Time Next Week'' (1964) *''In My Wildest Dreams'' (1984) Novels *''

'' (1966) *''Orange Wednesday'' (1967) *''The Love Beach'' (1968) *''Come to the War'' (1969) *''His Lordship'' (1970) *''Onward Virgin Soldiers'' (1971) *''Arthur McCann and All His Women'' (1972) *''The Man with the Power'' (1973) *''

'' (1974) *''Stand Up Virgin Soldiers'' (1975) *''Bare Nell'' (1977) *''Ormerod's Landing'' (1978) *''That Old Gang of Mine'' (1979) *''The Magic Army'' (1981) *''The Dearest and the Best'' (1984) *''The Adventures of Goodnight and Loving'' (1986) *''Orders for New York'' (1989) *''Evening News Short Stories'' (1990) *''The Loves and Journeys of Revolving Jones'' (1991) *''Arrivals and Departures'' (1992) *''Running Away'' (1994) *''Kensington Heights'' (1996) *''Chloe's Song'' (1997) *''Other Times'' (1999) *''Waiting for the Day'' (2003) *''Dover Beach'' (2005) *''Soldiers and Lovers'' (2007) Dangerous Davies novels *''

Dangerous Davies Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies is the central character in a series of comic novels by Leslie Thomas and a TV series, '' The Last Detective'' made for ITV and starring Peter Davison. The first novel in the series had earlier been made ...

, the Last Detective'' (1976) *''Dangerous in Love'' (1987) *''Dangerous by Moonlight'' (1993) *''Dangerous Davies and the Lonely Heart'' (1998) Travel *''Some Lovely Islands'' (1971) *''Hidden Places of Britain'' (1981) *''A World of Islands'' (1993) Miscellaneous *''Midnight Clear: A Christmas Story'' (1978) *''Almost Heaven: Tales from a Cathedral'' (2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Leslie 1931 births 2014 deaths British Army personnel of the Malayan Emergency Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Newport, Wales Royal Army Pay Corps soldiers Welsh non-fiction writers Welsh journalists Welsh novelists Welsh travel writers 20th-century Welsh novelists