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Leslie Thomas

Leslie Thomas, OBE (22 March 1931 – 6 May 2014) was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel The Virgin Soldiers.[1]

Leslie Thomas in 1995

Early life

Thomas was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He was orphaned at the age of 12, when his mariner father was lost at sea and his mother died only a few months later from cancer.[2] He was subsequently brought up in a Dr Barnardo'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.[3] In 1949 he was called up for National Service and embarked on a two-year tour of duty in Singapore with the Royal Army Pay Corps. While there he was briefly involved with the military action against communist rebels in the Malayan emergency. 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 news agency, now Extel, and eventually with the London Evening News newspaper, first as a sub-editor, later as a reporter. He stayed with the Evening News until 1965, when he embarked full-time on his writing career.[citation needed]

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 National Service such as The Virgin Soldiers spawned two film versions, in 1969 and 1977, while his Tropic of Ruislip 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).

He was a subject of the television programme This Is Your Life in 1979 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at a Barnardo’s hostel in Kingston, Surrey.[citation needed]

His experiences as a British Army conscript in the Far East during the height of the Malayan emergency were recalled when he appeared in the BBC Radio 2 documentary Caught in the Draft in 1985. He joined ex-RAF national serviceman Bob Monkhouse 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 show Time of My Life in 1983. The show was presented by Noel Edmonds and Thomas was reunited with National Service colleague Reg Wilcock for the first time in 32 years. They duetted on "Tumbling Tumbleweeds", 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.[2] The programme featured interviews with Thomas, Peter Grosvenor, Frederick Forsyth and Tim Rice, as well as archive clips from earlier programmes.[4]

Honours

In the New Year Honours List published 31 December 2004, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature.[5]

He died in Salisbury, Wiltshire after a lengthy illness on 6 May 2014, aged 83.[1]

Bibliography

Biographical

  • This Time Next Week (1964)
  • In My Wildest Dreams (1984)

Novels

  • The Virgin Soldiers (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)
  • Tropic of Ruislip (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, the Last Detective (1976)
  • Dangerous in Love (1987)
  • Dangerous by Moonlight (1993)
  • Dangerous Davies and the Lonely Heart (1998)

Travel

  • Some Lovely Islands (1971) ISBN 978-0330026260
  • Hidden Places of Britain (1981) ISBN 0851405428
  • A World of Islands (1993) ISBN 0413676609

Miscellaneous

  • Midnight Clear: A Christmas Story (1978)
  • Almost Heaven: Tales from a Cathedral (2010)

References

  1. ^ a b "Virgin Soldiers author Leslie Thomas dies aged 83". BBC News. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Newport novellist, Leslie Thomas features in TV writers' show". South Wales Argus. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Leslie Thomas Obituary". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Great Welsh Writers, Leslie Thomas". BBC One Wales. 31 July 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  5. ^ Webster, Philip (31 December 2004). "Olympic athletes head the field in New Year Honours". The Times. Retrieved 22 January 2011.

External links

  • Leslie Thomas at IMDb

leslie, thomas, other, people, named, disambiguation, march, 1931, 2014, welsh, author, best, known, comic, novel, virgin, soldiers, 1995, contents, early, life, career, honours, bibliography, references, external, linksearly, life, editthis, section, needs, a. For other people named Leslie Thomas see Leslie Thomas disambiguation Leslie Thomas OBE 22 March 1931 6 May 2014 was a Welsh author best known for his comic novel The Virgin Soldiers 1 Leslie Thomas in 1995 Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Honours 4 Bibliography 5 References 6 External linksEarly life EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Leslie Thomas news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Thomas was born in Newport Monmouthshire Wales He was orphaned at the age of 12 when his mariner father was lost at sea and his mother died only a few months later from cancer 2 He was subsequently brought up in a Dr Barnardo 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 3 In 1949 he was called up for National Service and embarked on a two year tour of duty in Singapore with the Royal Army Pay Corps While there he was briefly involved with the military action against communist rebels in the Malayan emergency He also began to write short articles for publication in English newspapers Career EditThis section relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Leslie Thomas news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2019 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 news agency now Extel and eventually with the London Evening News newspaper first as a sub editor later as a reporter He stayed with the Evening News until 1965 when he embarked full time on his writing career citation needed 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 National Service such as The Virgin Soldiers spawned two film versions in 1969 and 1977 while his Tropic of Ruislip 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 He was a subject of the television programme This Is Your Life in 1979 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at a Barnardo s hostel in Kingston Surrey citation needed His experiences as a British Army conscript in the Far East during the height of the Malayan emergency were recalled when he appeared in the BBC Radio 2 documentary Caught in the Draft in 1985 He joined ex RAF national serviceman Bob Monkhouse 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 show Time of My Life in 1983 The show was presented by Noel Edmonds and Thomas was reunited with National Service colleague Reg Wilcock for the first time in 32 years They duetted on Tumbling Tumbleweeds 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 2 The programme featured interviews with Thomas Peter Grosvenor Frederick Forsyth and Tim Rice as well as archive clips from earlier programmes 4 Honours EditIn the New Year Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature 5 He died in Salisbury Wiltshire after a lengthy illness on 6 May 2014 aged 83 1 Bibliography EditBiographical This Time Next Week 1964 In My Wildest Dreams 1984 Novels The Virgin Soldiers 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 Tropic of Ruislip 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 the Last Detective 1976 Dangerous in Love 1987 Dangerous by Moonlight 1993 Dangerous Davies and the Lonely Heart 1998 Travel Some Lovely Islands 1971 ISBN 978 0330026260 Hidden Places of Britain 1981 ISBN 0851405428 A World of Islands 1993 ISBN 0413676609Miscellaneous Midnight Clear A Christmas Story 1978 Almost Heaven Tales from a Cathedral 2010 References Edit a b Virgin Soldiers author Leslie Thomas dies aged 83 BBC News 7 May 2014 Retrieved 7 May 2014 a b Newport novellist Leslie Thomas features in TV writers show South Wales Argus 22 February 2013 Retrieved 5 July 2022 Leslie Thomas Obituary The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 5 May 2022 Great Welsh Writers Leslie Thomas BBC One Wales 31 July 2013 Retrieved 7 May 2014 Webster Philip 31 December 2004 Olympic athletes head the field in New Year Honours The Times Retrieved 22 January 2011 External links EditLeslie Thomas at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Leslie Thomas amp oldid 1096535161, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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