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Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472819349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258
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Book Description
A major illustrated history of the Long Range Desert Group from the foremost expert on British wartime special forces. Formed in June 1940 for the purpose of gathering intelligence behind enemy lines, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) played a secretive but vital role in North Africa during World War II. Highly trained in mechanized reconnaissance and specializing in desert operations, the unit provided support to the Special Air Service (SAS) in missions across the vast and treacherous terrain of the Western Desert. In this highly illustrated history of the LRDG, Gavin Mortimer reveals the origins and dramatic operations of Britain's first ever special forces unit.
Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472819349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258
Get Book Here
Book Description
A major illustrated history of the Long Range Desert Group from the foremost expert on British wartime special forces. Formed in June 1940 for the purpose of gathering intelligence behind enemy lines, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) played a secretive but vital role in North Africa during World War II. Highly trained in mechanized reconnaissance and specializing in desert operations, the unit provided support to the Special Air Service (SAS) in missions across the vast and treacherous terrain of the Western Desert. In this highly illustrated history of the LRDG, Gavin Mortimer reveals the origins and dramatic operations of Britain's first ever special forces unit.
Author: W. B. Kennedy Shaw
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1848328591
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 157
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Book Description
A “moving, exciting and authentic” chronicle of the British Army’s legendary recon and raiding unit in the desert of North African during WWII (The Observer). During its two-and-a-half years fighting in North Africa, from 1940 to 1943, the Long Range Desert Group became the acknowledged master of the desert. This small, highly mobile force made a name for itself through daring exploits and vital reconnaissance far behind enemy lines. Emerging from the depths of the desert, the LRDG would raid airfields or attack Axis lines of communication along the Mediterranean coast—then vanish, only to reappear hundreds of miles away. First published in 1945, Long Range Desert Group is a classic of military nonfiction. With its brilliant description of the desert’s harsh beauty and its exciting chronicle of LRDG activities, it has lost none of its gripping, visceral power. “A remarkable record, told simply, unpretentiously and with engaging humor.” —The Manchester Guardian
Author: Brendan O'Carroll
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1399084305
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263
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Book Description
Formed in 1940 the Long Range Desert Group was the first Allied Special Forces unit established to operate behind German and Italian lines in North Africa. Its officers and men were volunteers recruited from British and Commonwealth units. Merlyn Craw was serving with the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force when he joined the LRDG in 1941. He took part in numerous missions in the desert. The navigational driving and fighting skills of the LRDG were legendary and they were frequently responsible for transporting Stirling’s SAS detachments on raids. Merlyn’s luck ran out when he was captured on the Barce raid in September 1942, but he escaped twice, the second time making it back to Allied lines. Sent home on leave, he returned to Italy with the New Zealand Army. After a ‘disagreement’ he went AWOL and rejoined the LRDG with no questions asked, serving until the end of the war. Drawing on interviews with Merlyn and other former LRDG veterans, the author has created a vivid picture of this exceptional and highly decorated fighting man. Readers cannot fail to be impressed by the courage and ruthless determination of Merlyn Craw MM and his comrades.
Author: John Sadler
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612003370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
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Book Description
From the author of D-Day: “an amazing tale of how the world’s very first special force was created specifically for North Africa during WWII” (Books Monthly). The origins of most of the West’s Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group, which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 to 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa, they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greece. In the process, they became the stuff of legend. The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a prewar desert explorer featured in fictional terms in The English Patient, the LRDG used specially adapted vehicles and recruited only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance. Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting, and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier, and the Axis never managed to field a similar unit. Once the desert war was won, they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, retraining as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife-torn Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans. In addition, the LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today. “Genuinely gripping, a tale of eccentrics and their high adventures during very dangerous times.” —Classic Military Vehicle
Author: Brendan O'Carroll
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526777428
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388
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Book Description
This first pictorial history of the LRDG “covers all aspects of [its] work and the vehicles and weapons they used in their devastating raids” (Beating Tsundoku). The Long Range Desert Group has a strong claim to the first Special Forces unit in the British Army. This superb illustrated history follows the LRDG from its July 1940 formation as the Long Range Patrol in North Africa, tasked with intelligence gathering, mapping and reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines. Manned initially by New Zealanders, in 1940 the unit became the LRDG with members drawn from British Guards and Yeomanry regiments and Rhodesians. So successful were the LRDG patrols, that when the Special Air Service was formed, it often relied on their navigational and tactical skills to achieve their missions. After victory in North Africa the LRDG relocated to Lebanon before being sent on the ill-fated mission to the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean. Serving independently, when the Germans overwhelmed and captured the British garrisons, many LRDG personnel escaped using their well-honed skills. Many images in this, the first pictorial history of the LRDG, were taken unofficially by serving members. The result is a superb record of the LRDG’s achievements, the personalities, their weapons and vehicles which will delight laymen and specialists alike. “Well written . . . The photographs brought together here are a stunning selection despite the various quality as it shows the men and machines living the war they fought in.”—Armorama “A must-read page turner.”—Richard Gough, military author and historian “Informative and full of exciting detailed accounts of operations that occurred throughout the LRDG’s reign of terror on the Axis forces during the war.”—AMPS
Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472842162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49
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Book Description
A fascinating study of the specialized vehicles, kit and techniques of the Long-Range Desert Group who pioneered long-range desert warfare in World War II and worked closely with the embryonic SAS. The Long Range Desert Group was one of the most famous special units of World War II, operating heavily modified vehicles deep behind enemy lines to gather intelligence and support the raids of David Stirling's new Special Air Service. When war broke out, a pre-war explorer and army officer, Ralph Bagnold, convinced Middle East Command of the need for a reconnaissance force to penetrate into Italian-held desert. Bagnold tested four types of vehicles over rocks and through soft sand to find the best one for his new unit. He selected the Chevrolet WB (30 CWT) as the signature vehicle of the Long Range Desert Group because it is 'fast, simple and easy to handle'. With left-hand steering, horizontal grill and round fenders on the rear wheels, these trucks proved themselves popular and effective. The durability of the Chevrolets was demonstrated in January 1941 with an audacious raid on the Italian fort/air strip at Murzuk, hundreds of miles behind enemy lines. This book explains the detail of all the vehicles of the LRDG, as well as their modifications, driving techniques and special kit for surviving behind enemy lines in one of the most hostile environments on earth.
Author: Brendan O'Carroll
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 152677738X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 424
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Book Description
A history of the British Army unit’s deployment to and defense of a group of islands between Greece and Turkey during World War II. Shortly after the invasion of Sicily, in order to distract German attention from the Italian campaign, Churchill ordered the occupation of the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean. The Long Range Desert Group, retraining in Lebanon, were now part of Raiding Forces, Middle East, along with the Special Boat Service and No 30 Commando. In support of 3,000 regulars in 234 Brigade, the LRDG landed covertly on Leros establishing observation posts, reporting movement of enemy shipping and aircraft. In October the LRDG were ordered to assault the island of Levitha, losing forty highly skilled men killed or captured. The Germans invaded Leros with overwhelming force on 12 November 1943, five days later the battle was over. While many British troops were captured most of the LRDG and SBS escaped. Their individual stories make for enthralling reading. A measure of the intensity of the fighting is the fact that the LRDG lost more men in three months in the Aegean than in three years in the desert operating behind enemy lines. The author, an acknowledged expert on the LRDG uses official sources, both British and German, and individual accounts to piece together the full story of this dramatic, costly but little-known campaign. It is a valuable addition to the history of special forces in the Second World War. Praise for The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean “O’Carroll provides an interesting and informative read about a little known action by a World War II era special operations unit and an important part of SOF history.” —SOF News
Author: Kuno Gross
Publisher: Kuno Gross
ISBN: 9780620420105
Category : Desert warfare
Languages : en
Pages : 196
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Book Description
"31 January 1941:The tide of the Desert War in North Africa has turned against Italy, which has attacked British-occupied Egypt. The Italian northern front has collapsed and their army is in full retreat west towards Tripoli. Meanwhile in the far south among some isolated hills, two small mobile Special Forces units of the belligerent nations, the Compagnia Autosahariana di Cufra and T Patrol of the Long Range Desert Group, clash. This story was to become known as the incident at Jebel Sherif. 26 November 2006: After a long journey from the north, another small group rediscovers the same hills. This is the story of the incident at Jebel Sherif. For the first time, all available reports and accounts have been gathered and evaluated. An interview with a NZ veteran and the assistance of the LRDG Patrol Commander's son, together with two recent visits to the location, have allowed the authors to draw the most probable conclusions about the sequence of events. The book provides not only full details about the incident at Jebel Sherif, but also contains a dramatic account of the desert journey to and from this very remote location. This book is intended as a memorial to those - of any nation - who suffered and lost their lives during the years of the colonial occupation of Libya, the Second World War and all the conflicts that followed."--Publisher's description.
Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472846818
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 49
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Book Description
A concise illustrated history of the Special Air Service's lightweight, heavily armed vehicles and their combat use. The SAS, the world's most famous special operations unit, made its name in the desert of North Africa, shooting up Axis airfields from specially modified Willys jeeps. Following the start of the El Alamein offensive in October 1942, the SAS used jeeps effectively in reconnoitring and ambushing the retreating Afrika Korps. After the conclusion of the North African campaign, the Willys underwent several small but significant changes, including the introduction of the .303 Browning machine gun. Between June and October 1944, the SAS brigade operated deep inside Occupied France, harassing Germans reinforcements heading to Normandy, calling up air strikes on installations, and carrying out reconnaissance missions - all made possible with jeeps dropped by the RAF. Jeeps were also used in the push into Germany in the spring of 1945. Transported across the Rhine in 'Buffalo' amphibious landing craft, they formed part of the vanguard of the Allied advance, and their agility, speed and firepower proved crucial in crushing fanatical pockets of Nazi resistance. 22SAS in 1952, the regiment adopted the Series 1 Land Rover - introduced in 1948 - as the successor to the Willys jeep. A decade later the Regiment updated to the Series IIA 90 Land Rover, which saw service in the Oman and Aden, where its distinctive colour led to the 'Pink Panther' nickname. In the 1970s, the SAS begin using Range Rovers for covert operations while the Land Rover 110 HCPU became the SAS's new Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) in the 1991 Gulf War. This book describes the successful deployment of these combat vehicles in SAS operations from the Second World War to the present day and gives a rare insight into one of the most prestigious and secret forces of modern times.
Author: Karl-Gunnar Norén
Publisher: Helion
ISBN: 9781915113061
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 160
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Book Description
The world's most respected special forces unit, the Special Air Service (SAS), was inspired by another irregular unit, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) or simply Ghost Patrol. You may now accompany the authors in Ghost Patrol vehicles far, far behind Rommel's lines. While doing so you will acquire insights into some extreme raids and reconnaissance missions. You will become familiar with tactics and inventions of the Ghost Patrol that are still relevant today. This book is also the story of an LRDG research expedition to modern Egypt undertaken in original WWII Jeeps and described as a "2300-mile Sahara epic" by Classic & Sports Car magazine. Original LRDG training notes and other tips for extreme travellers are included.
