Download or read book Long Range Desert Group Patrolman written by Tim Moreman and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2010-07-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Osprey's study of patrolmen of the Long Range Desert Group of World War II (1939-1945). Nicknamed the 'Libyan Desert Taxi Service' by the SAS, the Long Range Desert Group was tasked with strategic reconnaissance and raiding operations deep inside the enemy-held deserts of North Africa. Armed with light weapons only, and equipped with specially converted light cars and trucks capable of withstanding the harsh conditions, the LRDG quickly proved it could operate in parts of the desert which other troops, including the enemy, found impassable. This new Warrior title examines the soldiers of the LRDG from the group's formation, through training, to combat in vast, lonely, and deadly deserts of North Africa.
Download or read book Long Range Desert Group Patrolman written by Tim Moreman and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 65 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title looks closely at the patrolmen who served in the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), the brainchild of Major Ralph Bagnold. The LRDG was tasked with strategic reconnaissance and raiding operations deep behind enemy lines in the desert wastes of North Africa. Originally raised on 3 July 1940, with General Wavell's personal support, it initially consisted of New Zealand volunteers commanded by British officers, who had explored the wide, unmapped expanses of the Libyan desert pre-World War II. Organized in patrols armed with light weapons and equipped with specially converted light cars a.
Download or read book Ghost Patrol written by John Sadler and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origins of most of the WestÕs 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 LRDG was the brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a pre-war desert explorer (featured in fictional terms in The English Patient) who put all of his expertise into the creation of a new and, by the standards of the day, highly unorthodox unit. Conventional tactical thinking shunned the deep heart of the vast desert as it was thought to be a harsh, inhospitable wilderness where British forces could not possibly survive even less operate effectively. Instead, Bagnold and his colleagues created a whole new type of warfare. Using specially adapted vehicles and recruiting only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance, the first patrols set out bristling with automatic weapons. The LRDG, in a dark hour, was the force which took the fight to the enemy, roving over the deep desertÑa raiderÕs paradiseÑattacking enemy convoys and outposts, destroying aircraft and supplies, forcing the Axis to expend more and more resources to protect their vulnerable lines. 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.
Download or read book Vehicles of the Long Range Desert Group 1940 45 written by Gavin Mortimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-02-18 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Long Range Desert Group in North Africa written by Brendan O'Carroll and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2023-01-24 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Formed in July 1940 for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines, the Long Range Desert Group was the first British special force unit. In no time the LRDG earned itself an enviable reputation for deep penetration patrols into German and Italian held territory. Its successes on prolonged missions into harsh terrain and under extreme climatic conditions were out of all proportion to its size. Wide-ranging military skills, including exceptional navigation techniques, and the highest standards of discipline and leadership were required from all ranks. Many of the previously unpublished and well captioned images in this comprehensive and well researched book come from the collections of LRDG veterans. They show the weapons, equipment, uniforms and insignia used and, together with personal accounts and operational reports, bring to life the extraordinary achievements of this legendary unit. The result is a fascinating record of the LRDG’s contribution to the Allied victory in North Africa.
Download or read book The Long Range Desert Group in Action 1940 1943 written by Brendan O'Carroll and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-12-30 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Sting of the Scorpion written by Mike Morgan and published by Sutton Pub Limited. This book was released on 2003 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Long Range Desert Group was Britain's original Special Force in the Western Desert long before the SAS burst onto the scene. Sting of the Scorpion is the exclusive, authorized, inside story of the tough LRDG raiders of the Second World War, drawn from the unpublished records of the famous force. The unit won unrivalled mastery of the North African desert in their wide-ranging and heavily armed trucks, earning grudging praise even from Rommel, the Desert Fox himself, for their skilful reconnaissance, punishing raids and powers of evasion.
Download or read book The Long Range Desert Group written by Karl-Gunnar Norén and published by Helion. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Special Operations Executive in Malaya written by Rebecca Kenneison and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-30 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, agents of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) infiltrated Japanese-occupied Malaya. There they worked with Malayan guerrilla groups, including the communist-sponsored Malayan Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), regarded as the precursor of the communist insurgent army of the Malayan Emergency. This book traces the development of SOE's Malayan operations, and analyses the interactions between SOE and the various guerrilla groups. It explores the reasons for and the extent of Malay disillusionment with Japanese rule, and demonstrates how guerrilla service acted as a training ground for some later Malay leaders of the independent nation. However, the reports written about the MPAJA by SOE operatives just after the war failed to draw out the likely future threat posed by the communists to the returning colonial administration. Rebecca Kenneison shows that the British possessed a wealth of local information, but failed to convert it into active intelligence in the period prior to the Malayan Emergency. In doing so she provides new insights into the impact of SOE on Malayan politics, the nature of Malayan communism's challenge to colonial rule, and British post-war intelligence in Malaya.
Download or read book Lrdg tracks June 2024 written by Kuno Gross and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2024-04-29 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most probably the readers of this magazine have never heard of the original TRACKS. I was in the very same situation until by the end of 2020, when NZ LRDG-historian Brendan OCarroll has provided me with a hardly readable copy of the June 1941 issue of TRACKS. I was immediately fascinated by these windows into the past and just thought: "We should revive TRACKS! " The editor of the original Tracks was, that time 20 years old, TA Sgt. N.A Moore, a clerk attached to LRDG Group HQ. The June 1941 issue was created by him when the LRDG HQ was located at Kufra. There he got the idea to create a "house paper" for the unit. He recalled in a letter which was published in the 1991 Newsletter of the LRDG Association, that there were only a very limited number of people who were willing to contribute and that this first edition was mainly launched thanks to the contribution of Lieut. Col. Bagnold and Captain Kennedy Shaw. And indeed, the June 1941 remained the single and only issue of Tracks - it was never published again.... until today!
Download or read book Ghost Patrol written by John Sadler and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book Commandos written by Frank Walker and published by Hachette Australia. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Amazing revelations and extraordinary exploits of Australia's elite secret warriors. There was something unique about Australians and New Zealanders in war that prompted World War II Allied commanders to turn to ANZAC soldiers, sailors and airmen to carry out the most dangerous and virtually impossible missions behind enemy lines. Paddling canoes 4,000 kilometres to attack enemy ships in Singapore; lightning raids on Rommel's forces in the deserts of North Africa. Flying bombers at tree-top level deep into Nazi Germany to destroy vital targets; rescuing sultans and future US presidents from under the noses of the Japanese and playing crucial roles in the greatest commando raid of the war at St Nazaire - the Aussies and Kiwis were there. The special forces showed incredible bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. They were determined to complete their missions. Often alone and far behind enemy lines,they demonstrated resourcefulness, spirit and a humanity that inspired others to follow them. Frank Walker, author of bestselling books on the Vietnam War and the British atomic tests in Australia, brings to life the amazing exploits and extraordinary stories of this select band of heroes..
Download or read book The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean written by Brendan O'Carroll and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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
Download or read book US Army Green Beret in Afghanistan 2001 02 written by Leigh Neville and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In October 2001 the most militarily advanced nation on earth came into conflict with one of the least developed nations as American forces poured into Afghanistan. The tip of the spear was drawn from the US Special Forces community, and largely from the units of the United States Army Special Forces – the famous Green Berets. Together with the Special Activities Division of the CIA and the Afghan Northern Alliance, they overthrew the Taliban in a lightning campaign that redefined modern warfare. This new study reveals the grueling Green Beret training and preparation, the specialized equipment they used in the field and traces their deployment throughout the campaign, from the first insertion of forces through to the fall of Kabul and Kandahar, the Taliban uprising at the notorious Fort of War in Mazar-e-Sharif, and the clearance of Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda in the Shahikot Valley.
Download or read book Italian soldier in North Africa 1941 43 written by Piero Crociani and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-11-20 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the attention paid to the Afrikakorps over the years, it was the numerically far superior forces of the Italian Army that held the line and formed the bulk of the fighting power available to the Axis powers during the War in the Desert from 1941 through to 1943. Their performance has been unfairly criticised over the years – the best units of the Italian Army were equal to those of the British and Germans – but they suffered from a lack of mobility and poor equipment that made it impossible for them to meet mobile British forces on anywhere near equal terms. Despite this, the Italian Army went through many changes through the period, with the introduction of a variety of elite units – armoured, mechanised and parachute divisions that did much to restore the fighting reputation of the Italian soldier in the desert war. Their German allies belatedly acknowledged this with the redesignation of Panzerarmee Afrika as 1st Italian Army in February 1943. This title details recruitment, organisation and experience of the Italian forces in this theatre, casting new light on a force whose fighting power and capabilities have been unfairly ignored and maligned for too long.
Download or read book Kill Rommel written by Gavin Mortimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-02-20 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed, illustrated analysis of the British Commandos' audacious attempt to assassinate Rommel in 1941. In November 1941, a small party of British Commandos landed by submarine in Libya, tasked with the assassination of General Erwin Rommel, commander of the German forces in North Africa, who was believed to be staying in a villa near the coast. Three men – Lt-Col Geoffrey Keyes, Capt Robin Campbell and Sgt Jack Terry – stormed the villa, but the German general was nowhere to be found. In the confused fighting Keyes was killed and Campbell wounded; only two raiders would escape, one of whom was Terry. The raid made headlines round the free world, and Keyes was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Yet in truth the raid had been a glorious failure, a mission bedevilled by bad planning and poor intelligence. Even so, crucial lessons were learned, particularly by the Special Air Service – who carried out their first mission on the same night as the raid on Rommel's HQ.
Download or read book The Long Range Desert Group in World War II written by Gavin Mortimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-20 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
