Gentleman Jim Almonds ~ SAS Founder Member from Lincs
Gentleman Jim Almonds An SAS Founder Member and a Lincolnshire Worthy
It’s an eclectic mix when it comes to those bestowed with our honorary title of Lincolnshire Worthy but if anybody deserves a place then this remarkable soldier does . . .
Major ‘Gentleman Jim’ Almonds was born on August 6 1914 at Stixwould here in Lincolnshire, he was a founder member of the world renowned military force the Special Air Service, better known as the SAS.
His father was a small-holder in Stixwould and Almonds was educated here in the Golden Shire at the local village school which he left at the age of 14.
In 1932 he enlisted in the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards.
After a brief spell in the Police he was recalled at the onset of World War II briefly spending time in various guises until he found the military home he felt right for him . . . the newly-formed No 8 Commando !
Really intensive and specialised training in Scotland followed which led to a brief spell in Egypt and then came the legendary Torbruk, the so-called Torbruk Four which led to the formation of the world’s most famous Special Forces Unit - The Special Air Service !
For more information about this and another Lincolnshire Worthy, from Grimsby, you should check out our Tour de Force on James Blakeney, SAS Original Member
After many hazardous and heroic missions he fought his way back to allied lines in October 1943 and was returned to England where he was was put in charge of security at Chequers (Winston Churchill’s, the Prime Minister, Country Residence) - it hardly needs saying that this was, albeit important, sedentary (by his standards) life wasn’t for Gentleman Jim.
In 1944 he rejoined SAS Regiment at Darvel in Scotland. Only 4 months later he parachuted into France in “Operation Gain” and despite an injury he covered 12 miles over hazardous terrain to lay explosives on a railway line.
A month later he was reconnoitring behind enemy lines and when driving back got caught in traffic - eventually finding himself actually driving in the midst of a German Convoy !!! Amazing !!
This led to him meeting General Patton (who accused him of stealing an American Jeep and told him he’d be shot if he couldn’t prove he was British) to him receiving the Croix de Guerre and later to a meeting with Field Marshall Montgomery himself.
‘Gentleman Jim’ Jim Almonds retired from military life in 1961, with the rank of major, and came back here to Lincolnshire and not just Lincolnshire but the house in Stixwould where he was born - he passed away in 2005 aged 91 and was the last surviving member of the original SAS
There is obviously so much more to life military life of this incredible man and a proud son of Lincolnshire.
If you can add anything, not copy and pasted from other sites or simple links, then we’d love to hear from you.
I’m sure you’ll agree with me that Gentleman Jim Almonds surely deserves the title of . . . Lincolnshire Worthy - the stamp of man I doubt we’ll see the likes of again.
Respectfully in admiration,
Rod
Doug said,
January 21, 2013 @ 1:48 pm
Hi Rod fantastic article
Rod said,
January 21, 2013 @ 5:09 pm
Doug,
thank you and very pleased you enjoyed the overview. I’m hoping this will, in time, build as more information turns up.
Best
Rod
Chas said,
March 17, 2013 @ 9:18 pm
Rod
The book ‘Gentleman Jim’ by Jim Almonds daughter Lorna Almonds Windmill is by far the best source on Jim. It is very well and properly researched and referenced, with the advantage of access to military sources and Jim’s own diary. I lived in Stixwould in the 1950s and 60s, and remember seeing the boat that Jim had built in Africa (called the Kumasi-Takoradi) and sailed home from there.
It was on the river Witham at Stixwould for a time, but I have no idea what happened to it afterwards. I also remember seeing Jim (known locally as Jack) driving by in his Humber Super Snipe. My mother, who had lived at Bucknall before marrying, told me that Jack had built some sort of aircraft at Stixwould as a young man.
I have never seen any verification of this, but Lorna, or her sister Gloria, might know more. I believe that Gloria might still live in the house that belonged to her father, in Stixwould.
Chas
Rod said,
March 17, 2013 @ 9:23 pm
Chas,
wonderful information, many thanks indeed and welcome to the site
Kind regards,
Rod
Chas said,
March 18, 2013 @ 7:37 pm
Rod
Thanks for the site; it has been of considerable interest in other areas already. Have asked my brother to try to find out more about the plane that Jim Almonds built, from out Aunt, who was also living in Bucknall then.
Chas
Chas said,
March 19, 2013 @ 6:29 pm
Some more information from the Internet: the following site gives information on Jim Almonds medals, taken from a site summarising the sale of his medals:
This states that his medals were: Military Medal, G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar (2655648 Sjt. J. E. Almonds, S. Gds.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (Capt. J. E. Almonds, M.M., Glosters); French Croix de Guerre 1939. The site does not state who bought the medals, so it is not clear if they are on public display anywhere; they sold for £58,000.
The second item to note is that Jim’s daughter Lorna Almonds Windmill seems to be in the process of starting a website. At present there is no content on the pages other than one on Jim himself:
so there is no contact information for Lorna herself yet. She must surely be the best source for unpublished information on Jim.
Chas
Chas said,
March 20, 2013 @ 6:36 pm
Information on the plane that Jim built. There is a brief mention of it in Lorna’s book, which says that Jim and a friend built the plane in the school yard when Jim was 17. It was powered by a Douglas motorbike engine, but it never flew. My brother recalls that the fuselage, made of hardwood, without wings or engine, was still standing in the orchard at the school house (probably in the early 1950s), but disappeared soon afterwards. This seems to be an early example of Jim’s engineering skills, of which the boat was a later exaple. I cannot find anything about the boat on the internet, although Lorna’s book tells us that Jim designed it in his head when he was in solitary confinement in a prisoner-of-war camp, and he later built it while serving in Ghana.
Chas