Gerald Lathbury
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| Gerald Lathbury | |
|---|---|
| 1906 - 1978 | |
| Nickname | Legs |
| Place of birth | Britain |
| Place of death | Alicante (Spain) |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry The Parachute Regiment |
| Commands held | 1st Parachute Brigade 3rd Parachute Brigade |
| Battles/wars | Operation Market Garden[Operation pegasus] |
| Other work | Governor of Gibraltar 1965 - 1969 |
Sir Gerald William Lathbury, GCB, DSO, MBE (July 14, 1906 – May 16, 1978) was a British Army officer during the Second World War and later became Governor of Gibraltar .[1]
Lathbury was born into a military family. His father was Col. O. Lathbury. Lathbury joined the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry before raising the 3rd Parachute Battalion in 1941 and the 3rd Parachute Brigade in 1943 before taking command of the 1st Parachute Brigade in North Africa. Lathbury took part in the landings in Sicily tasked with the capture of the Primasole Bridge where he was wounded in the back and both thighs, although he remained in command until reinforcement arrived. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for this action. The citation reads:
| “ | This officer organised and led the attack by the 1st Parachute Brigade on a vital river crossing South of Catania in Sicily on the night 13th/14th July 1943. Although dropped by parachute 1.5 miles away, from a height of only 100 feet Brigadier Lathbury reached the objective, took part in its capture and directed the consolidation, during which he was wounded. Later, during a heavy counterattack by German parachutists, he remained at the bridge where he fought alongside his troops and provided an example and inspiration which contributed in no small degree to the success of the operation.Pegasus Archive | ” |
Lathbury was still in command of the 1st Parachute Brigade during the failed Operation Market Garden campaign in Holland. On 18th September 1944 he was cut off from his command while in the company of Major-General Roy Urquhart when he was badly wounded in the left leg and his spine was chipped, leaving him temporarily paralysed. Lathbury was left in the care of a local Dutch family and became a prisoner of war. He concealed his rank, pretending to be a Lance Corporal. He escaped by simply walking out of the main doors of the hospital in which he was held. The Dutch resistance put him in touch with other hiding British soldiers. Lathbury, along with Lieut. Col. David Dobie and Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warner, organised an escape across the Rhine. Lathbury and Dobie crossed the Rhine on 22nd October with one hundred and thirty-seven men linking up with Easy Company, 506th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division.
He remained in the military after the war, later accepting the post of Governor of Gibraltar in 1965.
He died in 1978.
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