Leslie Thomas facts for kids

Leslie Thomas in 1995

Leslie Thomas, an OBE recipient, was a Welsh author. He was born on March 22, 1931, and passed away on May 6, 2014. He is most famous for his funny novel, The Virgin Soldiers.

Leslie Thomas's Early Life

Leslie Thomas was born in Newport, a town in Wales. When he was 12 years old, he became an orphan. His father, who was a mariner, was lost at sea. Just a few months later, his mother died from cancer.

After this, Leslie was raised in a Dr Barnardo's home. This experience was very important to him. It became the main topic of his first book, which was about his own life, called This Time Next Week.

Leslie went to Kingston Technical School. He then studied journalism at South-West Essex Technical College. In 1949, he joined the National Service. This was a time when young men had to serve in the military. He spent two years in Singapore with the Royal Army Pay Corps. While there, he was briefly involved in military actions during the Malayan Emergency. During this time, he also started writing short articles for newspapers in England.

Leslie Thomas's Writing Career

When Leslie Thomas returned to England in 1951, he went back to working for a local newspaper. This was the same newspaper group he had worked for before his military service. Within five years, he started working for the Exchange Telegraph news agency, known as Extel. Later, he joined the London Evening News newspaper. He first worked as a sub-editor, checking and preparing news stories. Then, he became a reporter.

Leslie stayed with the Evening News until 1965. At that point, he decided to become a full-time writer.

In 1984, Leslie Thomas published a book called In My Wildest Dreams. This book shared more about his life. It covered his childhood in South Wales and his time in the Dr Barnardo's homes in London. It also talked about his National Service in the Far East. Finally, it described his career in journalism.

His novels about the 1950s British National Service became very popular. One of his most famous books, The Virgin Soldiers, was made into two films. These films came out in 1969 and 1977. Other books by Leslie Thomas were also adapted for television. Tropic of Ruislip became a TV show called Tropic in 1979. His book Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective was made into a film in 1981. It also became a TV series in 2003, starring Peter Davison.

Leslie Thomas was featured on the TV show This Is Your Life in 1979. He was surprised by the host, Eamonn Andrews, at a Barnardo’s hostel.

His experiences as a British Army conscript in the Far East were also shared on radio. He appeared in a BBC Radio 2 documentary called Caught in the Draft in 1985. He joined other former servicemen to talk about their time in uniform. He also appeared on the BBC One show Time of My Life in 1983. On this show, he met up with a National Service friend, Reg Wilcock, after 32 years. They even sang a song they used to sing together in Singapore.

In 2013, Leslie Thomas was the focus of the first episode of BBC Wales' series Great Welsh Writers. The program included interviews with Leslie Thomas himself. It also featured other famous writers like Frederick Forsyth and Tim Rice.

Awards and Later Life

On December 31, 2004, Leslie Thomas received a special honor. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This award recognized his important contributions to literature.

Leslie Thomas passed away on May 6, 2014, in Salisbury, Wiltshire. He was 83 years old and had been ill for some time.