Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group ( German : Langstrecken-Wüstengruppe ) was a special unit of the British Army during the Second World War , which was in use from 1940 to 1943. It was founded by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold after Italian troops crossed the Libyan-Egyptian border in June 1940 . Her tasks included the reconnaissance of hostile activities as part of the African campaign and exploration of the desert for attack and supply routes for her own troops. In the early days, the association worked closely with the Special Air Service .
Strategic and tactical situation
At that time, East Africa hardly had any infrastructure worthy of the name. The only real road was the coastal road, which was replaced inland by unpaved roads and paths. Since the ports where supplies could be obtained were also located on the coast, the bulk of the armed forces naturally concentrated in the coastal regions. With Italy's declaration of war on Great Britain, the British armed forces found themselves in a very unfavorable position. To the east of them was the Suez Canal, which under no circumstances should fall into enemy hands, as this would cut off England from its colonies and allies in the Pacific, or would extend the sea route by several months. At the same time, the Italian army was massively numerically superior to the British armed forces and could also rely on supplies by sea, an option that was associated with high risk and corresponding ship losses for the British.
Installation and equipment
Major Bagnold had already commanded a unit in World War I that was equipped with Ford Model T vehicles and was deployed in the desert regions of North Africa and covered enormous distances there. Bagnold developed a. a. a sun compass that could be placed on the dashboard of vehicles, as normal compasses were sensitive to the metal of the vehicles. Bagnold was retired a few years before the war began, but was reactivated after the war began. Relocated to North Africa, he proposed the erection of a highly mobile unit there that would be able to move through the largely road-free and even pathless desert area. However, this suggestion was not taken up again until Italy declared war in June 1940. Bagnold then set up a unit of intelligent and resilient men to enlighten Italian units in Libya and, if possible, to wear down through pinprick attacks.
When it was founded, the Long Range Desert Group consisted mainly of New Zealand volunteers who were selected by the British commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg . Australian soldiers were asked, but the Australian government refused to let their men fight in British uniforms, which is why they were limited to New Zealanders. British and Rhodesian soldiers later joined the Long Range Desert Group . Each unit was divided into three patrols organized to each of 40 men who predominantly for transporting the reconnaissance troop truck of the type Chevrolet (30cwt) and jeeps as the Willys MB resorted. In order not to let the heavy trucks sink into the desert sand, any unnecessary weight, such as B. cabins, roof, windshield, etc. removed.
The armament of the individual troops consisted mainly of weapons stocks from the British Army or the Commonwealth of Nations. A single scouting team carried ten machine guns from the Lewis Gun brand and anti-tank rifles from the Panzerbüchse Boys make . To arm, usually mounted on jeeps, which included M2 Browning and Vickers K . Anti-tank guns were later mounted on the jeeps. Two-way radios with a range of up to 1200 miles were used for communication .
Areas of application
On August 11, 1940, Captain Clayton was sent as the first test run with seven men from Cairo to patrol. They crossed the Kalansho Dune Sea to observe a dirt road for three days on the other side in Libya, Italy, which at the time was one of the very few road connections at all (there was only one paved road in all of Libya, which was along the coast ran). After not a single Italian had been sighted for three days, the troops returned to Cairo. In total, they covered 1,600 miles (about 2,800 kilometers) in thirteen days. Impressed by these results, General Wavell approved an increase in Bagnold's troops . Three patrols were formed, each with about 25 men: W-Patroll under Captain Mittford, T-Patroll under Captain Clayton and R-Patroll under Captain Steele.
In September 1940 the establishment of the first base in the Siwa oasis began (see also: Eight Bells ). Shortly thereafter, two teams from the Long Range Desert Group were deployed for the first time . The three patrols met at the "Big Cairn", a stone structure in the middle of the Libyan desert that had been built by Clayton in 1932. While R-Patroll was bringing in more supplies, T-Patroll was sent to Chad . W-Patrol, led by New Zealand's Captain Mitford, crossed the Kalansho Sea of Dunes again to attack Italian fuel depots and runways at operationally important airfields . The airfields were not defended and then destroyed by the British, who then moved south along the road. On September 19, they met two Italian vehicles that were transporting supplies and were persuaded to surrender with a machine gun salvo. 2500 gallons of fuel and a mailbag were captured. After Uweinat had been explored further south, the patrol returned to Cairo, where they arrived again on October 4th. In Cairo the soldiers became celebrities overnight. The Commander-in-Chief, General Wavell, was so impressed that he described the group's performance in a telegram to the War Department. War Minister Eden visited her on October 16 in her barracks and said he was impressed. Bagnold is promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel and receives permission to expand his unit to two squadrons with three patrolls each. The unit is therefore renamed the "Long Range Desert Group".
On October 21, the unit in its entirety (W-, T- and R-Patroll) was sent again and made an arc to the south in order to reach the Libyan coastal road via Uweinat, where they laid mines, attacked Italian vehicles and others Took prisoners. Captain Clayton captured the fort in Aujila with a single burst of machine gun fire, as the crew fled to the village without resistance . This time Clayton covered about 2,500 miles (4,500 kilometers) in fifteen days. A Libyan prisoner reported in Cairo that the Italians were restricting all traffic to the Kufra oasis to heavily secured convoys in response to the patrols , while Italian soldiers throughout Libya kept reporting about patrols in their area.
This unit of the Long Range Desert Group subsequently operated with a course for Chad to contact the Armed Forces of Free France . After Resupply and refueling, they crossed the Kharga -Oase with the aim to Cairo to go. In total, they covered around 6000 kilometers.
Cooperation with French troops was strengthened when Major Bagnold traveled to Fort Lamy in late September 1940 to persuade the French colonies in Africa to join the Allied forces. Together with the new French allies, Italian bases in the area of the Murzuk oases were attacked, which led to the capture of Kufra . It was later agreed to move the headquarters of the Long Range Desert Group to the Kufra oasis. The bad weather conditions with violent sandstorms and extremely high temperatures of up to 50 ° C made it very difficult to proceed further.
End and whereabouts
During the summer of 1941, the founder Bagnold , who had meanwhile been promoted to Colonel , started looking for a successor. For a short time, Major Jake Easonsmith and Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Lennox Prendergast commanded the LRDG , until finally Major General David Lloyd Owen took over the final command of the Long Range Desert Group until the defeat of the Axis Powers in Africa in 1943. Colonel Bagnold left the LRDG in 1941 and from then on worked in Cairo on the staff of the British Army. The majority of the members of the LRDG went over to the Special Air Service or fought alongside partisans in Greece or in the Balkans .
See also
Literature and Sources
- Owen, David Lloyd: The History of the Long Range Desert Group: Providence Their Guide , 2000, ISBN 0-85052-712-0
- List, David: The Long Range Desert Group , 1983, ISBN 0-85045-484-0
- Morgan, Mike: Sting of the Scorpion: In Action with the Long Range Desert Group , 2000, ISBN 0-7509-2481-0
- Piekalkiewicz, Janusz: The desert war in Africa 1940-1943 , 2002, ISBN 3-8289-0357-6
Web links
- Side of the LRDG Preservation Society (English)