Major-General Corran Purdon: The Commando, Colditz Prisoner, and Servant of the Crown

Major-General Corran William Brooke Purdon CBE MC CPM was a decorated career soldier, a daring WWII commando, and a high-ranking police commander whose life read like a military adventure novel. From the docks of Saint-Nazaire to the heavily fortified walls of Colditz Castle, and later from the jungles of Malaya to the streets of Hong Kong, Purdon’s nearly seven-decade career was defined by courage, discipline, and unwavering devotion to duty. Described as "charismatic, inspirational, and the person you would follow into hell," he was, to those who knew him best, quite simply a true gentleman who dedicated his entire life to public service.

Born on 4th May 1921 in Rushbrooke, Cobh, near Cork, Ireland, United Kingdom, Purdon arrived during the height of the Irish War of Independence. His father, Major General William Purdon, served as an army medical officer, while his mother, Myrtle, was a homemaker from Belfast. Family life was touched by colourful folklore: in his 1993 autobiography, List the Bugle: Reminiscences of an Irish Soldier, Purdon recounted a longstanding family legend of an ancestral Banshee. The mythical spirit was said to shriek whenever a family member was about to die, prompting frantic telegram exchanges across the globe to check on loved ones whenever the sound was reported. After a brief stint in India during his father’s army tour, the family settled in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1926. Young Corran was educated at Campbell College, where he developed a lifelong passion for playing the bagpipes a skill he always considered a major asset before entering the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

When World War II broke out in 1939, Purdon’s training at Sandhurst was cut short. He was commissioned into the Royal Ulster Rifles and sent to the regimental depot in Armagh. Eager for front-line action and frustrated at being deemed too young for active deployment, he volunteered for No. 12 Commando upon its formation in August 1940. His defining wartime moment arrived in March 1942 with Operation Chariot the famous commando raid on the German-occupied dry dock at Saint-Nazaire, France, often dubbed "The Greatest Raid of All Time." Purdon fought bravely during the assault but was wounded by grenade shrapnel while attempting to break out of the docks. Captured by German forces, his heroics earned him the Military Cross (MC).

Key milestones of WWII service:

March 1942: Wounded & captured at the Saint-Nazaire Raid (Awarded Military Cross)

March 1943: Escaped Oflag IX-A/H at Spangenberg Castle; recaptured after several days on the run.

1943–1945: Imprisoned at Colditz Castle following tunnel-digging attempts.

April 1945: Liberated by American forces; joined an active US unit until repatriation.

Upon returning to the UK in 1945, Purdon married Maureen Patricia Petrie, whom he had met at a dance in Scotland just three weeks before their engagement in 1939.

Purdon was persuaded to return to 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles as adjutant with the rank of captain. His unit was based at Kiwi Barracks, Bulford Camp as part of the 6th Airborne Division, which was then deployed to Palestine in its entirety.

In 1946, Purdon was appointed as commander, with the rank of major, of the Royal Ulster Rifles Company at the 25th Infantry Training Centre at St Lucia Barracks, Omagh, in Northern Ireland. During this time he also commanded the Royal Ulster Rifles component of the Victory Parade in London.  

From 1946 to 1951, he commanded training centres and staff posts in Palestine and Egypt before deploying to Hong Kong near the border at Fanling. After attending Staff College, Camberley, he actively attached himself to counter-insurgency jungle patrols in Malaya (1954–1956), followed immediately by taking command of Support Company in combat operations during the Cyprus Emergency.

Taking command of the 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles in West Germany (1962–1964), Purdon quickly made his mark by using military law to discharge roughly 30 soldiers deemed disruptive due to heavy drinking and aggressive behaviour. He led the unit's transition to tracked FV432 armoured personnel carriers and later oversaw its airborne deployment to Borneo during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation.

Promoted directly to Brigadier during the Dhofar Rebellion in Oman (1967–1970), Purdon was appointed Commander of the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces and Director of Operations. His successful leadership in defeating the insurgency earned him an appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He closed out his military career as Commandant of the School of Infantry (1970), General Officer Commanding North West District (1972), and GOC Near East Land Forces (1974), before officially retiring from the army in 1976 as a Major-General.

Purdon’s retirement from the military was brief. In 1978, he accepted an appointment as Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police, serving until his secondary retirement in 1981 at age 60, for which he was awarded the Colonial Police Medal (CPM). Even in later years, Purdon remained active in civic and regimental affairs:

Served as Honorary Colonel of the London Irish Rifles and Queen's University Belfast OTC.

Appointed Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (1984).

Served as Commander of the Wiltshire Branch of St John Ambulance and held executive roles with the Royal Humane Society.

Led the annual Royal Ulster Rifles Remembrance Pilgrimage to Normandy well into his nineties.

Purdon’s personal life was anchored by strong family ties. He and his first wife, Patricia, raised three children: Tim, Patrick, and Angela. Tim followed his father into uniform, becoming a Colonel in the British Army who also served in Oman. Following Patricia's passing, Purdon remarried at age 88 to 74-year-old Jean Otway.

Famous for his legendary physical fitness, Purdon was still doing 50 push-ups a day into his mid-80s. In his later years, he featured in several high-profile WWII documentaries, including BBC's The Greatest Raid of All Time hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, and returned to Saint-Nazaire as guest of honour for the raid's 70th anniversary in 2012.

Major-General Corran Purdon passed away peacefully in his sleep at home in Devizes on 27 June 2018 at the age of 97.

His life story of public service and connection to the historic site of St. Lucia Barracks as commanding officer is another example of a story that could and should be told in a military museum and County Tyrone museum at the old St. Lucia Barracks, Omagh, Co. Tyrone.

Stevan Patterson, Castlederg Co. Tyrone