Stories Behind The Stone – Jimmy Ladner MM 22 SAS

“Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea.”

Samuel Johnson

A friend recently showed me the above photo of a memorial stone dedicated to “Ladner JJ Military Medal 22567155”. The full name of the soldier is Joseph James Ladner known as Jimmy. Originally in the Royal Artillery he passed selection for 22 SAS aged 18 and died in 2015. My mate lived not far from Jimmy when growing up but never knew his military past until he saw the stone.

Following the original publication of the blog I received a comment from Jimmy’s son Stephen with more detail about his father who “… was in A squadron under Johnny Cooper DCM a war time SAS hero who was a Major at the time . My dad Jimmy fought in Malaya, Borneo and Dhofar and a few other places. After the SAS he went to 33 Airborne artillery then to the artillery at Barnard Castle where he met my mum Patricia, left army in 66 ish joined 23 SAS for about 2 years where his mate Geordie Lillicoe MM was. Jimmy had 3 sons, 2 daughters and lived in Fatfield Washington a lot of his life, liked his dogs and walked miles and died of dementia in a nursing home RIP dad and hero.”

Rebirth Of The SAS In The Malayan Emergency

As Jimmy won his MM fighting with the SAS in the jungles of Malaya it’s worth revisiting the Regiment’s involvement in that theatre. Alastair MacKenzie summarises British SAS Ops in Malaya in this article for The History Reader.

From 1948 to 1960, the British government was involved in a counter-insurgency campaign in Malaya. In 1950, the SAS, known initially as the Malayan Scouts, became involved in the campaign and remained there until 1958. This was the rebirth of the SAS from its post-war demise and it was also the catalyst that enabled the SAS to gain itself a permanent position in the UK forces order of battle. It was a very difficult birth due to the various personalities involved and post-war resentment against special forces by ‘proper soldiers’, and because of the limited effectiveness of this newly formed unit against an elusive jungle enemy.

This time was one of the most complex in the post-war period for the SAS. Not only was the SAS reformed but it was the longest time that it had been involved in a conflict, as well as involving the largest number of SAS troops deployed in one campaign since 1945. At one stage between 1950 and 1958 the SAS had five squadrons deployed, A, B, D, the Independent Parachute Regiment Squadron (1955–57), and the New Zealand SAS Squadron (1955–57). C (Rhodesia) Squadron had operated with the SAS from 1951 to 1953. Britain’s other Special Force unit in existence at the time, the SBS, did not carry out any independent operations in Malaya during the Emergency.

Military Medal Citation

It would appear that Jimmy was involved in the early years of this re-emergence of the SAS and was soon in the thick of it as the citation for his MM testifies.

“During the course of Operation ‘GINGER’ between 15 Mar 58 and 28 June 58 L/Cpl Ladner showed conspicuous skill, enterprise, dash and leadership under adverse circumstances over a period of fourteen weeks of continuous patrol activity in difficult mountainous jungle against an elusive, dangerous and determined enemy.

On 23 May 58 during the course of operation “GINGER” in the SUNGEI SIPUT area of Perak L/Cpl Ladner was acting as leading scout of a three-man patrol. In the late afternoon while moving along the side of a very steep jungle-covered hill, L/Cpl Ladner saw two terrorists approaching him. He held his fire until they were at point blank range and then fired, killing both of them, one after the other.

L/Cpl Ladner displayed the highest standard of personal courage, coolness, fire discipline, alertness and quick, accurate shooting after a period of nine weeks of continuous jungle patrolling.“

Post SAS Army Career

On return from Malaya Jimmy was posted back to the Gunners and was stationed with 20 Regt RA in Barford Camp near Barnard Castle. His Army ambush training and boxing skills got him into a spot of bother and he made the local paper in December 1963 with the headline “Bombardier Assaulted Barnard Castle Man”.

The reporter goes on to state “An Army Bombardier, who rose rapidly in promotion after he “reformed ” two years ago. was described by an officer at Barnard Castle Court on Wednesday as the type of soldier the Army could ill afford to lose.” This is interesting as it hints at more than it says. Did Jimmy get returned to his unit from Hereford for some unknown reason?

His Troop Commander gave a character reference for the court as the paper reports: “The officer in court giving the accused’s military’ conduct, said Ladner had been a model soldier for the past two years and while stationed in Malaya won the service boxing title in his weight. While on service with the Special Air Service he won the Military Medal through courageous service which resulted in the death of three terrorists.”

Though Paddy Mayne would have approved I am not sure Jimmy’s prowess as a boxer was a good thing to bring up in court! In the end he received a £5 fine and £3 costs. After that the civilian probably stayed away from Jimmy’s love interest if he had any sense!

At some point Jimmy must have returned to the SAS as he features in this video about the SAS in Oman with Lofty Large.

After that there was not much more information I could find about his life. There are many men and women like Jimmy all around us. They may be old or young but they all have one thing in common. They were ordinary people who did extraordinary things.

Lest We Forget

History is all around us if we care to look. A small stone memorial in Sunderland was the key to unlocking an early member of the post war SAS’s military career and heroism. One of the soldiers often described in the quote:  “We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us”.  RiP Jimmy.

Copyright © 2022. All rights reserved by the author Colin Ferguson. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing of the author.