# Patrick Delaforce

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{{Short description|British Army captain (1923–2018)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Soldier
| name           = Patrick Delaforce
| image          = 
| caption        = Patrick Delaforce in 1945.
| birth_date     = {{birth-date|28 November 1923}}
| death_date     = {{death-date and age|22 January 2018|28 November 1923}}
| birth_place    = [Reigate](/source/Reigate), [Surrey](/source/Surrey), England
| death_place    = [Brighton](/source/Brighton), [West Sussex](/source/West_Sussex), England
| allegiance     = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch         = {{army|United Kingdom}}
| service_years  = 1942–1947
| service_number = 304456
| rank           = [Captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines))
| unit           = [Suffolk Yeomanry](/source/Suffolk_Yeomanry)
| battles        = [Second World War](/source/World_War_II)
| awards         = [Bronze Cross of the Netherlands](/source/Bronze_Cross_(Netherlands))<br /> [Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur](/source/Legion_of_Honour)<br />[Mentioned in dispatches](/source/Mentioned_in_dispatches) (2)
| spouse         = {{marriage |Dinah Clodd|1949|end=div}}<br> {{marriage|Gillian Kitching |1960|2015}}
| children       = 4
}}
'''Patrick de Fleurriet Delaforce''' (28 November 1923 – 22 January 2018) was a [British Army](/source/British_Army) officer and military historian. He fought in the [European theatre of World War II](/source/European_theatre_of_World_War_II), attaining the rank of [captain](/source/Captain_(British_Army_and_Royal_Marines)) before retiring from the army in 1947, and starting his career as a historian around 1979.

== Early life ==
Patrick Delaforce was born in [Reigate](/source/Reigate), [Surrey](/source/Surrey), on 28 November 1923.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|date=2018-02-19|title=Patrick Delaforce, soldier, wine-maker and military historian – obituary|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/02/19/patrick-delaforce-soldier-wine-maker-military-historian-obituary/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2021-08-14|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> His father was a soldier in [World War I](/source/World_War_I), who also served with the [Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force](/source/Supreme_Headquarters_Allied_Expeditionary_Force) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Walton|first=Josh|title=Second World War veteran who helped liberate millions remembered|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16082415.second-world-war-veteran-helped-liberate-millions-remembered/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=The Argus|language=en}}</ref> Delaforce traced his family origins to [Gascony](/source/Gascony), and [Huguenots](/source/Huguenots) who fled to Britain.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|title=Patrick Delaforce: Obituary|language=en|work=[The Times](/source/The_Times)|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/obituary-patrick-delaforce-x82ph38vh|url-access=limited|access-date=2021-08-14|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> His great grandfather founded a [port wine](/source/port_wine) business in [Porto](/source/Porto), Portugal, in 1868.

Delaforce attended [Winchester College](/source/Winchester_College), and spent a year finishing his education at [Queen's University Belfast](/source/Queen's_University_Belfast) before enlisting in the British Army in 1942.<ref name=":3" />

== Military career ==
Delaforce attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit in [Catterick, North Yorkshire](/source/Catterick%2C_North_Yorkshire), and was commissioned into the [Suffolk Yeomanry](/source/Suffolk_Yeomanry).<ref name=":2" />

Delaforce served as an artillery [officer](/source/Officer_(armed_forces)) in the [13th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Honourable Artillery Company)](/source/13th_Regiment%2C_Royal_Horse_Artillery_(Honourable_Artillery_Company)), part of the [11th Armoured Division](/source/11th_Armoured_Division_(United_Kingdom)), during World War II. He participated in [Operation Overlord](/source/Operation_Overlord), [Operation Market Garden](/source/Operation_Market_Garden), and the [Liberation of Belgium](/source/Liberation_of_Belgium) from 1944 to 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|last=James|first=Ben|title=Second World War hero who helped liberate Bergen Belsen awarded France's highest honour|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14426463.second-world-war-hero-who-helped-liberate-bergen-belsen-awarded-frances-highest-honour/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=The Argus|language=en}}</ref> In the Netherlands, he became a [forward observation officer](/source/forward_observation_officer), and was injured, having his ribs and one arm broken, and his leg paralysed when his [Universal Carrier](/source/Universal_Carrier) was hit by an anti-tank mine.<ref name=":2" /> He rejoined his unit once he recovered in November 1944, and received his first of two [mentions in dispatches](/source/Mentioned_in_dispatches) for successfully deterring a German [Tiger](/source/Tiger_I) tank during battle along the river [Elbe](/source/Elbe) with only a [Sten](/source/Sten) when his unit's anti-tank guns had all been destroyed. During the battle, he was hit by a grenade, his second injury of the war.<ref name=":2" /> His second mention in dispatches came at a later date, when he directed artillery fire while in close proximity to the enemy.<ref name=":3" />

In 1945, Delaforce participated in the liberation of [Breendonck concentration camp](/source/Breendonck_concentration_camp),<ref name=":0" /> and was one of the first soldiers to liberate [Bergen-Belsen concentration camp](/source/Bergen-Belsen_concentration_camp).<ref>{{Cite web|last=James|first=Ben|title=Sussex war heroes revealed in new book|url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/14267233.sussex-war-heroes-revealed-in-new-book/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=The Argus|language=en}}</ref> The same year, he was awarded the [Bronze Cross of the Netherlands](/source/Bronze_Cross_(Netherlands)).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Millar|first=Rupert|date=2018-02-22|title=Patrick Delaforce dies|url=https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2018/02/patrick-delaforce-dies/|access-date=2021-08-13|website=The Drinks Business|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2015, he was awarded the [Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur](/source/Chevalier_de_Legion_d'Honneur).<ref name=":1" />

After the war, Delaforce was an [intelligence officer](/source/intelligence_officer) in [Schleswig-Holstein](/source/Schleswig-Holstein) until his resignation from the army in 1947.<ref name=":1" />

== Later career ==
After leaving the army, Delaforce became a sales manager in his family's port wine business.<ref name=":1" /> In 1958, he joined Intam Limited, a subsidiary of the [London Press Exchange](/source/London_Press_Exchange), and by 1961, he was vice president and general manager of Otto-Intam, a New York-based advertising agency.<ref name=":2" />

In 1962, he bought a vineyard and farmhouse, where he produced wine and truffles, though claiming himself that the wine produced there was "terrible".<ref name=":1" /> He retired from winemaking in 1979, and went on to become a historian, writing a total of 47 books on subjects such as the wives of [Samuel Pepys](/source/Samuel_Pepys), [the Duke of Wellington](/source/the_Duke_of_Wellington), and [Horatio Nelson](/source/Horatio_Nelson%2C_1st_Viscount_Nelson), and also writing about the units and campaigns of World War II, including his own, with ''The Black Bull.''<ref name=":3" />

== Personal life ==
Delaforce married Dinah Clodd in 1949, and after their marriage dissolved, he married Gillian Kitching in 1960.<ref name=":0" /> They remained together until Gillian's death in 2015. Delaforce died on 22 January 2018 and was buried with Gillian in Woodvale Cemetery, [Brighton](/source/Brighton).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> He had a son and daughter with his first wife, William and Joanna, and two daughters with his second, Amanda and Charlotte.<ref name=":3" />

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaforce, Patrick}}
Category:2018 deaths
Category:1923 births
Category:Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Category:British military historians
Category:British Army personnel of World War II
Category:Suffolk Yeomanry officers
Category:People from Reigate
Category:People educated at Winchester College
Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Category:Recipients of the Bronze Cross (Netherlands)
Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour
Category:Military personnel from Surrey
Category:Burials in East Sussex

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Patrick Delaforce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Delaforce) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Delaforce?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.