A Sound of Thunder
Private Raoul E Thunder 1st East Anglian Regiment
The Man Raoul E Thunder was born in the second quarter of 1946 in Thanet, Kent. His early military service began as a Junior Soldier at the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion at Oswestry, Shropshire between 1962 and 1964.
He was a talented athlete who excelled in track events. He was a member of the winning 4x800 relay team that won the last intercompany event that took place before he joined his regiment. He was the last runner and the team were slightly ahead at the handover but he destroyed the rest of the field to win. Thunder by name, but could run like lightning.
Raoul then served in the 1st East Anglian Regiment service number 23907798, seeing active service in The Radfan, South Arabia and Northern Ireland, being one of the earliest Soldiers to serve there.
No further detail is known. He was awarded the Campaign Service Medal with clasps Radfan, South Arabia and Northern Ireland.
The Story The medal was purchased on 15th November 1992, after much deliberation and last minute final dash back from the car to the dealer before leaving, from an antique fair at Alexandra Palace in London. A letter from Royal Anglian Regimental Headquarters in London subsequently confirmed the award of the three clasps in so far as the Regiment served in all three theatres.
In 2021 a cursory search on Ancestry.UK revealed just one match. In theory Raoul never married and is still alive?
Contact was made via this website by a former service colleague of Raouls in 2022, John Wilson, who said “I'm sure this is the same Raoul Thunder I knew in the early 1960's. His age and military service fit”.
The information provided by John have now been added to Raoul’s biography.
He was a talented athlete who excelled in track events. He was a member of the winning 4x800 relay team that won the last intercompany event that took place before he joined his regiment. He was the last runner and the team were slightly ahead at the handover but he destroyed the rest of the field to win. Thunder by name, but could run like lightning.
Raoul then served in the 1st East Anglian Regiment service number 23907798, seeing active service in The Radfan, South Arabia and Northern Ireland, being one of the earliest Soldiers to serve there.
No further detail is known. He was awarded the Campaign Service Medal with clasps Radfan, South Arabia and Northern Ireland.
The Story The medal was purchased on 15th November 1992, after much deliberation and last minute final dash back from the car to the dealer before leaving, from an antique fair at Alexandra Palace in London. A letter from Royal Anglian Regimental Headquarters in London subsequently confirmed the award of the three clasps in so far as the Regiment served in all three theatres.
In 2021 a cursory search on Ancestry.UK revealed just one match. In theory Raoul never married and is still alive?
Contact was made via this website by a former service colleague of Raouls in 2022, John Wilson, who said “I'm sure this is the same Raoul Thunder I knew in the early 1960's. His age and military service fit”.
The information provided by John have now been added to Raoul’s biography.
The 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk)
was an infantry regiment of the British Army. As a result of defence cuts implemented in the late 1950s, the 1st Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment and the 1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment amalgamated on 29 August 1959 to form the 1st Battalion, 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk). On formation the regiment was based in West Berlin (the location of the 1st Royal Norfolks), an exclave of West Germany surrounded by Communist East Germany. In 1961 the Regiment returned to the UK for the first since its creation, being based in Harwich. The following year the 1st East Anglians deployed to the South American colony of British Guiana (now the state of Guyana) after violence erupted between the African and Indian ethnic groups there. The Regiment returned to the UK later that year. In February 1964 the Regiment arrived in Aden as part of the Aden Brigade, seeing active service in the Radfan on the border with South Yemen as part of Radforce, fighting Egyptian-supported guerillas, losing a number of its soldiers in the process. In September that year, while still based there, the Regiment amalgamated with the three other remaining regiments of the East Anglian Brigade on 1 September to form one of the new 'large' regiments, the Royal Anglian Regiment; the 1st East Anglians became the 1st Battalion (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk).
was an infantry regiment of the British Army. As a result of defence cuts implemented in the late 1950s, the 1st Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment and the 1st Battalion, The Suffolk Regiment amalgamated on 29 August 1959 to form the 1st Battalion, 1st East Anglian Regiment (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk). On formation the regiment was based in West Berlin (the location of the 1st Royal Norfolks), an exclave of West Germany surrounded by Communist East Germany. In 1961 the Regiment returned to the UK for the first since its creation, being based in Harwich. The following year the 1st East Anglians deployed to the South American colony of British Guiana (now the state of Guyana) after violence erupted between the African and Indian ethnic groups there. The Regiment returned to the UK later that year. In February 1964 the Regiment arrived in Aden as part of the Aden Brigade, seeing active service in the Radfan on the border with South Yemen as part of Radforce, fighting Egyptian-supported guerillas, losing a number of its soldiers in the process. In September that year, while still based there, the Regiment amalgamated with the three other remaining regiments of the East Anglian Brigade on 1 September to form one of the new 'large' regiments, the Royal Anglian Regiment; the 1st East Anglians became the 1st Battalion (Royal Norfolk and Suffolk).
Medal Details:
- Campaign Service Medal: 23907798. PTE.R.E.THUNDER. 1.E.ANGLIAN
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