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Subject: Virgin Soldiers author Leslie Thomas dies aged 83
Written By: Philip Eno on 05/07/14 at 6:26 am
The author Leslie Thomas, best known for his comic novel The Virgin Soldiers, has died aged 83.
Thomas, born in Newport, south Wales, was brought up a Barnardo's home from age 12, and was a Fleet Street reporter before he began novel writing.
In 2004 he was given an OBE for services to literature having sold millions of books worldwide.
He died at his home near Salisbury in Wiltshire on Tuesday after a lengthy illness.
He leaves his wife, four children and four grandchildren.
The Virgin Soldiers, inspired by Thomas' national service in Malaya, tells the story of a group of British soldiers based in the Far East.
The success of the novel - and two subsequent feature films - allowed Thomas to become a full-time writer.
He wrote more than 30 novels including Tropic of Ruislip and Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective, both of which were adapted for television.
Adolf Eichmann
Thomas's father, a sailor, died when he was a boy but he used his experiences of growing up in a orphanage to write his 1964 first novel, This Time Next Week.
His success as a novelist came after a career as a journalist, starting as a reporter on a weekly newspaper before a stint on Fleet Street with the London Evening News.
Among the stories he covered was the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
Speaking after the announcement of his death on Wednesday, his wife, Diana, said: "He had a wonderful life and he travelled the world. All he ever wanted to do was write and that is what he did.
"He died at home with his family around him."