Donald Large | |
|---|---|
 Awaiting helicopter, Aden, 1966 | |
| Nickname(s) | Lofty |
| Born | 27 September 1930 Oxfordshire |
| Died | 22 October 2006 (aged 76) Hereford |
| Buried | Hereford Cemetery |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1946–1973 |
| Rank | Warrant Officer Class 2 Squadron Sergeant Major |
| Service number | 5577627[1] |
| Unit | Wiltshire Regiment Gloucestershire Regiment Special Air Service |
| Battles / wars | Korean War Malayan Emergency Oman Operation Claret Aden Emergency |
| Awards | Mention in Despatches Presidential Unit Citation |
| Other work | Author |
Donald "Lofty" Large (27 September 1930 – 22 October 2006)[2][3] was a British soldier and author.
Having joined the Army as a boy, Large fought in the Korean War and was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Imjin. He spent two years in a prisoner-of-war camp, where his injuries went untreated and he lost more than a third of his body weight. After his release and rehabilitation, he joined the Special Air Service (SAS) and went on to serve in various conflicts around the world, hunting communist pro-independence guerrillas in Malaya, suppressing rebellions in Oman and Aden, and conducting deniable cross-border reconnaissance and raids during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.
An imposing figure – he was almost 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall – he was given the nickname "Lofty" after joining the Army.
After his retirement, Large wrote two books about his Army career, preceding such authors as Andy McNab and Chris Ryan. Andy McNab has said that Large and his books were "instrumental in setting the template for future members of the [SAS] Regiment".
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
MIDwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Large 1999, p. 64.
- ^ "Announcements – Large". Hereford Times. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2011.