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Rank : Lieutenant Colonel

Army Number : 69129

Unit : 1st Bn

Biography :

Educated at Eastbourne College and RMC Sandhurst, 'Dickie' Lonsdale was commissioned 2nd Lieut in The Leicestershire Regiment on 27.8.1936. Joined 1st Bn at Jubbulpore in 1937. He was a fine rugby player and good boxer; he was in 1st Bn's rugby XV which won the All-India Calcutta Cup in 1938; and was runner-up in the Bn's individual and Inter-Company heavyweight boxing in 1938. He was promoted Lt on 27.8.1939 and he was awarded the M.C. for his actions in Waziristan on 14 Nov 1939 (L.G. 25.10.1940). He was later OC B Company 1st Bn. Joined The Parachute Regiment in 1941, serving in 151st Bn in India until moving with it to North Africa in 1943. In Jul 1943 he joined 2nd Para Bn as OC A Coy and took part in the airborne landing at Primasole Bridge in Sicily on 13 Jul 1943, for which action he was awarded the D.S.O. (L.G. 23.12.143). In Sep 1944 he became Bn 2IC 11th Para Bn in England, with which on 19 Sep he took part in the airborne landing at Arnhem. For his part in the ensuing battle, particularly around the village of Oosterbeek in which battle he commanded what became known as 'Lonsdale Force' he was awarded a Bar to the D.S.O. (L.G. 9.11.1944). Lonsdale played himself in the 1946 film “Theirs is the Glory”, before commanding the amalgamated 3rd and 11th Para Bns, serving in Palestine. He attended the Army Staff College in 1947, and subsequently served in The King's African Rifles in Uganda, returning to HQ London District as SO2 (PT) in 1950 before retiring from the Army on 29.6.1951. In 1949 he was prospective Conservative Party candidate for Poplar, and he stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative candidate for Wolverhampton at the General Election in 1951. He then lived in Africa for several years, entering the wine trade, and then returned to the United Kingdom living in Jersey, the Isle of Man and Bath. He died in 1988, aged 74 years.
He is buried in Aldershot Military Cemetery. He is commemorated in a stained-glass window in Oosterbeek Old Church, near Arnhem, The Netherlands. His contribution to the battle of Arnhem is described at http://battlefieldsww2.50megs.com/oosterbeek_church.htm
See also
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lonsdale
- http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/dickie_lonsdale.htm
- https://www.paradata.org.uk/people/richard-th-lonsdale

This page was last edited on 29.7.2019.

Date of Birth : 27.12.1913

Place of Birth : Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, Ireland

Date of Death : 23.11.1988

Place of Death : Bath

Civil Occupation : Wine trade, Africa

Period of Service : 1936-51

Conflicts : Waziristan, WW2, Palestine

Places Served : UK, India, Waziristan,Tunisia, Sicily, Holland, Palestine, Uganda