Patrick Palles Lorne Elphinstone Welch, (12 August 1916 – 15 May 1998), generally known as "Lorne Welch", was the son of Brig Gen Malcolm Hammond Edward Welch CB CMG, who was born in 1872 in Ahmednuggur, India, to Frederick Gibson Terell Welch and Mary Hawke. Lorne was born in the UK at the family home in Dorset.

Lorne was a British engineer who became a pilot of gliders and powered aircraft in the 1930s.

He joined the UK Royal Air Force at the beginning of the Second World War, and after the war became a world-famous glider pilot.

Flying over Germany in 1942 as Captain of a twin-engined Wellington bomber, his aircraft was hit by German fire and was badly damaged. He landed it in a field in the Netherlands and was captured by the Germans, becoming a prisoner of war (PoW) in the Stalag Luft prisoner camp.

Later, he tried to escape and was transferred to the camp at Colditz, where particularly aggressive Prisoners of War were locked up.

Lorne was educated at Stowe School and became an engineer and then an engine test flight observer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough.

He also learned to fly gliders at the London Gliding Club.

He took up powered flying, becoming an instructor in 1939.