Long Range Desert Group

Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), British unit formed at the start of the Western Desert campaigns in June 1940 by Captain Ralph Bagnold who commanded it until August 1941. Equipped with specially adapted trucks, this force reconnoitred behind Axis lines, inserted spies, provided intelligence, and mounted lightning attacks on Axis fuel dumps, airfields, and garrisons. The first volunteers, New Zealand army personnel, were followed by others from Rhodesia and the UK, and all became expert in driving and navigating across the desert. The group also co-operated with the Special Air Service and Popski's Private Army by transporting their personnel to their targets, and it mounted raids with the Free French during the Fezzan campaigns which started in January 1941. But its most crucial role was to keep a road watch behind Axis lines to check supply convoys. This enabled ULTRA intelligence to be checked, a task which was described later by Montgomery's chief-of-staff, de Guingand, as being the group's most valuable contribution to winning the Western Desert campaigns. An LRDG road watch was also kept during the second El Alamein battle, which provided a ‘window’ on the Germans; and during the final phase of the North African campaign LRDG patrols reconnoitred the route which made possible Montgomery's plan to outflank the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia in March 1943.

In September 1943 the LRDG moved to the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea and suffered heavy losses during the fighting there. In December the New Zealanders were withdrawn and Rhodesians replaced them, and in February 1944 the group entered the Italian campaign. Initially, one squadron was attached to Force 266 and the other to the Eighth Army, but from August 1944 both squadrons worked under Land Forces, Adriatic (see Balkan Air Force), mounting shipping watches, reconnaissance patrols, and raids on Axis forces in Yugoslavia, Albania, the Dalmatian Islands, and Greece during the final phase of the battle for the Mediterranean.

Bibliography

Owen, D. , Providence Their Guide (London, 1980).
Shaw, W. B. K. , The Long Range Desert Group (London, 1945).