Anthony Deane-Drummond ( Major General A. J. Deane-Drummond, CB, DSO, MC, late Royal Corps of Signals )

Born 1917. Educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals in January 1937. Served in the French campaign of 1940 as a lieutenant and signals officer to Corps Commander Royal Artillery (CCRA), II Corps, British Expeditionary Force. Volunteered for Special Service on return to the UK and posted to No.2 Commando, soon to become Britain's first airborne unit as 11^th Special Air Service Battalion.

11^th SAS Battalion, no relation to David Stirling's L Detachment, was to carry out the first British parachute operation of the war. Parachute training had started in July 1940, when the unit was still known as 2 Commando, and by the time it became 11^th SAS in November 500 men had been trained. The target for Operation Colossus was the Tragino Aqueduct in Southern Italy. 38 volunteers, known as X Troop and commanded by Major Trevor Pritchard, arrived in Malta on 7 February 1941. Deane-Drummond, now commanding one of the sub-sections into which the battalion was divided, was one of the seven officers chosen for the mission. He had preceded the rest of X Troop by two weeks to make preparations for their arrival at the island fortress. The attack was launched on the night of 10/11 February, the parachutists jumping in from six Whitley bombers. The drop, except for one aircraft, was on target and soon one pier of the aqueduct and a small wooden bridge had been destroyed. The raiders then moved off towards the coast in three groups to rendezvous with the pick-up submarine, Deane-Drummond accompanying Major Pritchard's group. Unfortunately all three groups were captured on 12 February and those from the missing group a few days later. They would not have found the submarine at the Sele river mouth anyway, since one of the Whitleys had crash-landed there after being hit by anti-aircraft fire and the site was therefore compromised. The damage done by the raiders was soon repaired but it had been proved that it was feasible to transport a group of parachutists deep into enemy territory to attack a strategic target.

However this was not the end of the story. One man at least was determined to complete his mission and return to the UK. Deane-Drummond, along with the rest of the raiders, was imprisoned near Naples. While preparations for escape were made he passed the time trying to learn Italian, but in fact was more successful at German, translating a book on gliding from German into English. In December 1941 he escaped and caught a train from Naples to Milan. Unfortunately he aroused suspicion at Milan station and was recaptured. Deane-Drummond and several others were transferred to Campo 27 near Pisa, reserved for notorious escapers. After a few months of planning he feigned illness in order to be transferred to the military hospital at Florence, from which he escaped in June 1942. This time he made it over the Swiss border and from there was sent with other escapees down the line organised by MI9 to France. The escapees were picked up from the Mediterranean coast by the Royal Navy in mid-July and taken to Gibraltar. On his arrival back in Britain Deane-Drummond awarded the Military Cross for the courage and perseverance which had won him his freedom. By now Britain's airborne forces had been expanded to the 1^st Parachute Brigade, of which the old 11^th SAS, now redesignated 1^st Parachute Battalion, was part. Deane-Drummond became a captain and Signals Officer of the newly-formed 2^nd Parachute Brigade in August 1942. Shortly before the 1^st Airborne Division left for North Africa in April 1943 he was promoted to major. 2^nd Parachute Brigade's part in the invasion of Sicily was cancelled but it did land in Italy with the rest of the division in September. Shortly afterward Deane-Drummond became Second In Command of 1^st Airborne Divisional Signals. The division returned to the UK at the end of the year.

The 1^st Airborne Division did not participate in the Normandy invasion in June 1944 but it was to form one of the main elements in Operation Market Garden, the attempt to secure a route into Germany through Holland in September 1944. The story of the battle for Arnhem has been told many times and does not need to be recounted here. Major Deane-Drummond was one of the few who had genuine misgivings about the operation, especially the communications setup. Soon after the division landed in Holland contact was lost with the leading parachute battalions moving into the town of Arnhem itself. Deane-Drummond and his driver made their way into the town on 18 September to establish what the problem was and bring news of the fighting back to headquarters. Soon the major found himself commanding the remnants of a company of 3^rd Parachute Battalion, all of whose officers had been killed or wounded. The following day, while trying to get back to the rest of the division outside Arnhem, he and three others were trapped in a house being occupied by the Germans. They hid in a small room for three days but shortly after leaving the house were captured. Deane-Drummond was taken to a villa in the village of Velp being used as a POW compound. Here he hid in a cupboard for 13 days to avoid being sent off to Germany, surviving on a few sips of water and a few scraps of bread a day. On 5 October, once the Germans had abandoned the house, he made his escape. He managed to contact the Dutch underground and on 22 October rejoined the survivors of the division, across the Rhine at Nijmegen. Deane-Drummond was awarded a Bar to his Military Cross for his actions at Arnhem.

After attending the Staff College at Camberley in 1945, served as Brigade Major of 3^rd Parachute Brigade, 1946-47. The brigade was then part of the 6^th Airborne Division engaged on counter-insurgency operations in Palestine. Deane-Drummond was an instructor at Sandhurst from 1949 to 1951 and then a member of the Directing Staff at Camberley, 1952-55. In late 1957 he took over as Commanding Officer of 22^nd Special Air Service Regiment, being promoted to lieutenant colonel. As such he commanded the regiment in the final stages of the Malayan campaign and then the operations by A and D Squadrons in Oman, 1958-59. Received the Distinguished Service Order for his contribution to the ending of the rebellion in the Jebel Akhdar, personally leading the final assault on the rebel stronghold. Handed over command of 22 SAS in 1960. Promoted to colonel and then brigadier soon afterward.

Commander, 44 Parachute Brigade, Territorial Army, 1961-63. Assistant Commandant, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, 1963-66. General Officer Commanding (GOC), 3^rd Division, as a major general, 1966-68.

Information courtesy of Mr. Ryan Wulfsohn.