Bulleid News

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No. 55 30 May 2011

David L H Bulleid

Peter Bulleid drew my attention to the following item, which appeared on the-saleroom.com in advance of the sale by auction of David Bulleid’s campaign medal on 18

th May 2011.

David is the son of H A V (Anthony) Bulleid and grandson of Oliver V S Bulleid: -

“The campaign medal awarded to Captain David Bulleid, Special Air Service, formerly

Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and Lancashire Fusiliers, who was wounded by a grenade

fragment in Dhofar and subsequently whilst contracted to the Dubai Palace Guard played a

pivotal roll in preparing the Special Forces rescue operations from the hijacked Lufthansa

Flight LH181.

General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Dhofar (Capt., RRF) extremely fine £1200-1500 Captain

David L. H. Bulleid was born in Newcastle in 1945 and attended Ampleforth School. He was

commissioned from Sandhurst College into the Lancashire Fusiliers in the rank of Second

Lieutenant in July 1966, subsequently serving with the Royal Anglian Regiment and Royal

Regiment of Fusiliers before passing selection for the Special Air Service in 1970. He

commanded 6 (Boat) Troop, B Squadron, 22 Special Air Service for a time and was wounded

in Dhofar when he was hit by a grenade fragment on 6 December 1971 whilst training for

Operation Jaguar. He resigned his commission in November 1972.

David Bullied (sic.) is mentioned numerous times in the book, Fire Magic, Hijack at

Mogadishu, by Barry Davies, B.E.M. which details the authors involvement in assisting the

S.A.S. whilst he was working under contract for the Dubai Palace Guard when the hijacked

Lufthansa Flight LH181 landed at Dubai airport in October 1977. The rescue operation was

essentially a German led operation using their Special Forces troops known as GSG9 as well

as two members of the British Special Air Service. The plane landed at a total of six different

airports prior to being stormed by the Special Forces soldiers at Mogadishu airport after the

pilot had been executed by the terrorists. Three of the four terrorists were shot dead and most

of the remaining passengers and crew were freed alive and unharmed.

Sold with confirmation that the G.S.M., clasp, Dhofar was claimed by the recipient whilst

based in Dubai in November 1981.

The following is extracted from the book, Fire Magic: Hijack at Mogadishu, by Barry Davies,

B.E.M. a copy of which is included with the lot:

„Then luck smiled on us: we saw a European officer whom we recognised. It was David

Bullied, an ex-SAS man working under contract for the Dubai Palace Guard. from that point,

events took a completely different turn. Without David‟s help, at that moment and

subsequently throughout the rescue operation, we might never have achieved the success that

we did. He proved absolutely indispensable to us.

David had served as a troop commander with the SAS a few years before, and since leaving

had been seconded to the Dubai Defence Force. As the SAS trained the soldiers of the Palace

Guard, David found himself working with them. One great advantage was that he had a lot of

muscle with the Defence Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rachid, the man now in charge of

dealing with the hijack in Dubai. David suggested introducing us to the Sheikh, so, brushing

aside protests from immigration, and under his protection, we regained our passports and

made our way to the control tower.

As we walked, David admitted that the Dubai Defence Force had put together a spontaneous

team that could storm the aircraft if the terrorists started to shoot hostages. He stressed that

the men were working in the dark and had no previous training in anti-terrorist drills. David

was extremely helpful in many other ways - for instance, he had already primed some of the

best soldiers from the Palace Guard to assist us. Should things escalate and the terrorists start

to shoot the hostages systematically, we would need all the immediate help we could get.

Also, his position within the Dubai military structure allowed him - and subsequently the

boss and me - great freedom around the airport.

When we got to the control tower... there were several prominent people in attendance, who

included Sheikh Mohammed. David Bullied introduced us, explaining that we were SAS

specialists and that the British Prime Minister had sent us to lend assistance...

After a while we agreed that there was little we could do until the morning, and we all needed

some sleep. It was decided that the Germans should go and stay at a nearby hotel, which

David duly arranged, while the boss and I went home with David. We arranged to meet again

in a few hours time to draw up a more detailed plan which could be used to assault the

aircraft with the force now available.

Luckily, David‟s comfortable home was only a few minutes from the airport... David made

furiously scribbled notes, as well as lists of required kit and equipment which seemed to grow

ever longer. Our most expensive request was for the use of a 737 aircraft - this was essential

for training and practice if we were to stand any chance of success. Around 5am we all went

to bed - except for the tireless David Bullied, who left to make further arrangements. A

couple of hours later, as the boss and I, much refreshed, were having breakfast, he returned

with the news that he had managed to fulfil most of our equipment demands and it was now

being assembled at the airport...

On the personnel side, our resources were limited to a core of eight men who had received at

least some professional CQB (close quarter battle) training, and four who needed rapid

training. Luckily, both Alastair and David Bullied were well trained as were the two Arab

members of the Palace Guard... I had never personally met David Bullied before, but I must

say his exceptional qualities and involvement at Dubai have never been fully accredited to

him.‟

Before it was possible for the plane to be stormed at Dubai airport the hijacked plane

suddenly took off ultimately bound for Mogadishu where the plane was successfully stormed

by the special forces troops who followed it there.”

Darwood Family 2009-2010

Margaret Darwood has kindly sent in an update from Australia of the growth of her family

there. Margaret is the granddaughter of Lydia Bulled (1885-1919) who was born in Zeal

Monachorum, Devon. Margaret and her husband Bernard left Leyton, London, for Australia

in 1966. They spent the first few years in New South Wales before moving to Victoria and

then to Western Australia, where they have lived for more than 30 years: -

“Until 2009, our family consisted of 3 daughters, 8 grandchildren and 4 gt. grandchildren.

24th

August 2009 saw the birth of our 5th

gt. grandchild, a little girl named Dakota. She was

born in Sydney, Australia, daughter to our granddaughter Maleaha.

Dakota Sophie Plaisted

25th

March 2010 saw the birth of our 6th

gt. grandchild, another little girl, named Lily.

Born in Perth, Australia, a third daughter for our eldest granddaughter Sharon and Shaun

Craig.

Lily Jean Ann Craig

6 Gt grandchildren

L/R Jacob, Cassandra holding Dakota, Tysen

Rebekah holding Lily

Bill is not a traveller and so in late April 2010, I went from Perth to Sydney with my daughter

Carol to attend the marriage of her daughter, our granddaughter, Maleaha Farber to Robert

Plaisted, on 1st May 2010, in the Auburn Botanic Gardens, New South Wales. The reception

was held at the Liverpool Golf Club.

Maleaha and Robert met nearly 10 years ago and, due to circumstances, Robert went to

Sydney to work and Maleaha stayed in Perth. They didn‟t see each other again until late

2009, when they found each other through Facebook. Now they have made their home in

Sydney, NSW.

Maleaha Farber and Robert Plaisted 4 Generations

Me on the left and Carol on the right

holding Dakota Sophie Plaisted

The middle of June 2010 saw me in Bali with my daughter Irene and son-in-law Tony Clay,

to attend the marriage of their eldest son, our grandson, Peter Clay to Nicole Curtiss. This

took place on 24th

June 2010 in Ubed, Bali

Peter Clay and Nicole Curtiss Bridesmaid Sally, Nicole and Peter with

Best Man, Adam Clay, Peter’s brother

Both the wedding and reception were held at „The Royal Pita Maha‟. This hotel was built in

the side of a mountain and the settings were idyllic. We had Balinese dancers to entertain us.

Peter spent about 3 years working in London and did quite a bit of travelling. While visiting

the Acropolis in Greece, he met Nicole who was also working in London and comes from

Melbourne; small world! On Easter Sunday, Peter and Nicole invited Bill and me, Irene and

Tony to dinner. It was then that I found out that Nicole works with Lynette Bullied de Beer;

smaller world still!

Both weddings were lovely; the Bali wedding was so different, and the weather for both was

excellent.”

Bulleid Web

Emma Windsor writes from Torquay, Devon: -

“I thought you might like this newspaper article of my Grandparents celebrating their 65th

Wedding Anniversary last October. They had a lovely day & were thrilled to receive a special

anniversary card from the Queen! (Granddad‟s name is Gerald Albert but everyone calls him

Steve, he is the Great Grandson of Tamsin/Thamzin/Thomasine Coombes nee Bulleid

(youngest daughter of James Bulleid & Elizabeth Crocker).

“However my Grandparents weren't the only ones in our family who celebrated their 65th

Wedding Anniversary on the same day as they had a double wedding with Granddad‟s cousin

Gladys. Not only was Gladys's dad William, brother to Granddad‟s dad Bert, but also her

mum Ethel, was sister to his Mum Lily, making Gladys a Great Grandchild of Tamsin too!

“Here's how it was reported in our local paper in 1945: -

“In January my Granddad celebrated another milestone his 90th

Birthday! He had big party at

Torquay's Rugby Club with all his rugby & cricket pals plus family, neighbours etc. Later

that evening a family party continued back at our house. Granddad said he had a marvelous

day that will be remembered for years to come!”

Gerald/Steve thanking everyone for coming.

Please send contributions for the newsletter to me at gledden@gmail.com. I have started

removing from the mailing list the names of people who show no interest.

Kind regards,

Geoff

www.bulliedfamily.com – private family site (tree, photos, documents, recordings, newsletters etc.)

www.facebook.com – Bulleid Family Worldwide (private group with up-to-date photos and videos)

www.devonheritage.org – See Geoff Ledden‟s Bulleid Family pages.