[2][3] He was seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force and Gold Coast Regiment between 1928 and 1932 and, returning to England, attended the Staff College, Camberley between 1937 and 1938.

On 29 February 1940, Lathbury, promoted to the acting rank of major, was posted to the 48th (South Midland) Infantry Division as a General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2).

[7] In September 1941, however, Lathbury's career took a sharp upwards turn as, interested in the British Army's newly created airborne forces, he was made Commanding Officer (CO) of the 3rd Parachute Battalion.

[7] Lathbury – "a very tall man, slight of build and with a deep crackling voice; his very presence demanded attention" – trained his battalion very hard over the next few months until, in May 1942, he was posted as a GSO1 to the Air Directorate at the War Office.

[7][9] The brigade, which as previously mentioned had been detached from its parent 1st Airborne Division, had just been engaged in hard fighting in the Tunisian campaign, and had sustained heavy losses.

Lathbury took part in the landings in Sicily (Operation Husky), his brigade being tasked with the capture of the Primosole Bridge, where he was wounded in the back and both thighs, although he remained in command until reinforcement arrived.

The citation reads: This officer organised and led the attack by the 1st Parachute Brigade on a vital river crossing South of Catania in Sicily on the night 13th/14th July 1943.

Later, during a heavy counterattack by German parachutists, he remained at the bridge where he fought alongside his troops and provided an example and inspiration which contributed in no small degree to the success of the operation.

On 18 September 1944 he was cut off from his command while in the company of Major General Roy Urquhart, the division's GOC, when he was badly wounded in the left leg and his spine was chipped, leaving him temporarily paralysed.

Lathbury and Digby crossed the Rhine on 22 October with 137 personnel, linking up with US paratroopers of First Lieutenant Frederick Heyliger's Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the U.S 101st Airborne Division.

The model's citation reads: On 17th September at Arnhem, Brigadier Lathbury commanded the 1st Parachute Brigade whose task was to seize the main road bridge in the town.

With the aid of the Dutch Resistance Movement he evaded capture and remained in hiding until he escaped across the river with the party which reached our lines on the 23rd October.