Thread: He went to school with Richard Burton, recommended Idi Amin for a commission, missed out on D-Day only because of a traffic accident in the marshalling area, trained as both an Army commando and a para (surviving a ‘roman candle’ in training), survived a landmine.../1

...in Palestine, was wounded in Korea, served in Kenya after the Mau-Mau insurgency, commanded the very first RMP Regiment in NI and was a top-class sportsman and equestrian @LMBD1418, who played 1st class rugby for Aberavon, Taibach, Blackheath, @bigandylock and the Army. /2

Intrigued? Read on. “Perhaps I have been at times an unruly, hard-working, sometimes reckless soldier who, when he found he couldn’t beat the Military Police, decided to join them.” This is how Brig Jack Thomas once described himself to others. And in its judicious mixture.../3

... of candour and self-deprecation it utterly encapsulates the man I knew as Provost Marshal (Army) and who so sadly passed away at the age of 94 last month. His obit will, I hope, shortly appear in both the Times and the Daily Telegraph but here is a taster of a unique.../4

...Welshman @bermicourt who was known to all of us as ‘Squeaky Jack’. Born in Aberavon in 1926 - ‘an ordinary boy who went to school with patches on his trousers’ – he trained as a carpenter before the call of war led him into The Life Guards. Granted an Emergency .../5

...Commission in 1945 and wearing the cap badge of the Welch Regiment, he trained as an Army Commando at the Commando Basic Training Centre, Achnacarry, following which he was assigned to No 6 Cdo. On its disbandment in 1946, he was re-assigned to the 1 Para @Bruno1023llama .../6

...where, during his parachute training, he survived a ‘roman candle’ incident; his parachute having failed to deploy properly, Jack ‘crunched’ both his ankles on landing. During the 1947-48 Palestine Campaign, his jeep drove over a landmine; Jack was the only survivor. /7

He was not, however, unscathed. His injuries were more psychological than physical; he did not speak for a year @CombatStress. When he finally regained his voice, the change was so dramatic it resulted in a nickname - ‘Squeaky Jack’ – which would stay with him for the... /8

...rest of his career. A promising officer, ‘Squeaky’ was now granted a Regular Commission and gazetted to the Royal Regiment of Artillery, with whom he served in Korea, only to be wounded again. This time it was a shot in the shoulder which threatened not only his army .../9

...career but also his sporting one. A keen rugby player, Jack had represented Aberavon, Taibach, Blackheath and the Army; he was also a competitive swimmer and top-class horseman. Although Jack eventually recovered, his wired shoulder would ensure that he never again ... /10

...made it through an airport without setting off the security alarms. In 1959 Maj John Francis Thomas transferred to the Corps of Royal Military Police and a year later was sent to Kenya as DAPM. It was there in East Africa that he sat as a member of the .../11

...Army Selection Board that would recommended a then unknown Ugandan soldier, named Idi Amin, for a commission in The King’s African Rifles; a recommendation, Thomas admitted later, he would forever regret. In early 1970 Jack Thomas was in the right place at the right time. /12

As the first APM in Northern Ireland, he led his MPs during a time when the RUC was under serious pressure. Granted the powers of Constable, MPs now operated on the streets in support of the civil power. It was a busy time; the introduction of internment without trial, an.../13

...upsurge in violence and an increase in attacks against the Security Forces, including RMP, meant that many more MPs were needed. Recognizing the advantages of the centralized control of a scarce MP resource and the need for greater flexibility and economy of force .../14

...which could only be achieved in a large MP unit, Jack aggregated the increasing number of small independent Provost Coys arriving in the Province, and created, and then commanded, 1RMP; the first ever RMP Regiment. (In which I later served and had the honour to be both .../15

...its Adjt and a later CO). Jack's later OBE citation began with these words: “The Emergency has made great demands on him and his men. It is very largely due to his endeavours, his wise and experienced counsel, and his fearless leadership that these demands have been so.../16

...successfully met.” Jack Thomas became PM(A) – head of the RMP - in 1980 and I knew him both in that role and later during his retirement. On leaving the Army he worked as an Executive Director for a defence consultant, and followed that with a spell as Director of .../17

...Security for the National Diamond Mining Company in Sierra Leone, before running his own property maintenance business, a job he continued to do well into his nineties. /18

Jack was a very active President of the Commandos Veterans Association, and chaired the committee of the Commandos Benevolent Fund. He was a most remarkable man who lived a most remarkable life. #Resurgam #ExemploDucemus @ProfGSheffield /End