My Grandfather a few weeks before his death told the family he was a member of the Long Range Desert Group. And your videos have help reveal what that wonderful man was a part of.

I've always been a proud Kiwi, for a very small country with a small population Kiwi's have achieved a lot in the world. This vid just reinforces my pride so thanks. Just wish the rest of the world would at least investigate the claim that a Kiwi farmer named Pierce flew before or around the same time as the Wright Brothers but being from a little country at the bottom of the world the news had not spread before the American success was widely transmitted around the world as the first powered flight.

love this my grandfather was a Gordon highlander who went on to the lrdg only to be picked for the sas much respect

Great job!, i really enjoyed this. These series of videos are truly great!.

Great work, I can't wait for the next one.

Excellent video, thank you! The animations of map movement are very helpful and instructive

Brilliant, i really enjoyed this one!

Great doc. we can see and understand better on histories of warfare

Excellent choice for a Battlestorm Life series! :D Once again, your storytelling is first-class, your visuals simple yet showing all relevant details, and your perspectives are multi-dimensional. This is so much better than history class. I think the Italians had the capabilities to defeat the British, but lacked the necessary leadership. The Italians could have, with their resources (particularly their large supply of trucks), aggressively patrolled the desert and hunted down these motorized groups. Even if they didn't destroy the recon forces, they would hamper their ability to gain intelligence, and limit their range. The hunting would have hammered out any shortcomings in the Italian system, improved their maps and intelligence, and given their soldiers valuable experience in desert warfare. But their leaders did not try this, nor did they apply the lessons in small-unit tactics that the Germans had successfully employed only a year earlier.

WW2 Buff here! Thanks for sharing this work. Very informative and interesting. Again thank you for your series! Paul from Orange, Ma. USA

Well done! Looking forward to more LRDG history

thoughtful, clever and expertly presented, uniquely-so really, well-done and thank you..

My sisters husbands dad ,was a founder member of the lonng range desert group. He said this ,he was in a gaurds tank reg. One day they asked would any one like yo volunteer for a new special forces unit highly dangerous. The whole reg volunteered, Why it was horrible being in a steel box in the desert and if you met a German tank you died.

Keep up the great work!

Great video! Excellent!

Great info , thanks

Well done. History to remember

I've always been fascinated with the LRDG since knowing about them from Commando comics.

My dad spent 4 1/2 years in North Africa and Italy in WW2 , he drove alone quiet a few times out to Siwa and other camps with spares and supplies to the LRDG , he loved the Chev trucks 👌🏻

An interesting topic to do a series on, the beginning of the SAS.

Aah , First mention of the amazing Hobart who later developed so many vehicles that were to prove decisive on D-DAY ...the Funnies . what an ingenious man .

The LRDG originated at a truck factory in Oshawa and a Chevy dealer in Cairo. My suspicions were correct.

Great video, do you know of maps available on the internet that were used by the LRDG for navigation by the long range desert group, appart from the Bagnold sun compass ?

Good vid.

This was nicely done! It helps that I have a soft spot for the LRDG.

As in all things in life, there is no one single reason for any result. Rather, it is the confluence of factors -- each acting upon the other. In the case of the Italian defeat in Africa, the LRDG's operations created doubts about British weaknesses, produced imagined capabilities and planted the seed of defeat in the mind of the Italian commander -- who commanded a less than first rate military formation to begin with. This was a good example of the Indirect Approach as espoused by B.H. Liddell Hart that produced results without attempting to destroy the enemy army -- as von Clauswitz would have demanded.

Excellent and educational…l just thought it was Stirling idea ….unsure if Orde Wingate had a input too ….brilliant

This guys magic to listen to

Great that ww 2 history is still alive least a generation forgets the exploits of the LRDG

My paternal grandfather , Gustav "Gus" Suhr was a Bren Guner of 22 Batalion B'Co NZEF, he did a few "stints" with the LRDG....As did my maternal grandfather Eric Feek , 21st Battalion HQ Reccon Co, he was a Bren Carrier driver & mechanic, he could drive & fix anything. Eric told me about going out and placing explosives in Jerry fuel dumps , and mines under vehicles. He said the could hear them "go up" in the morning when Jerry woke up. Eric was captured at Sedi Aziz with 5th Brgde HQ Co.27/11/41.

Do you remember where you read the bit about the vehicles initially having the desert rat logo on first vehicles to deceive spies ? Was it Kennedy Shaw account?

People forget that there were many Rhodesians and New Zealanders, not just English in the LRDG. My dad was badly wounded in Cyrenaica losing an eye, which is featured in the maps in this video. I am glad this area is mentioned, as my dad was never in WW2, but the battles before WW2 were dangerous too, including the Battle of Cyrenaica.

The original mad lads.

Wondered if anyone knows if the Cheshire Regt had any hookup with the early LRDG

Popsky. Between the WW1 Light Cars and the WW2 LRDG was Popski's Private Army, "PPA" to those in the know. PPA did fine work on desert navigation, along with good stuff about the capabilities of vehicles of the time. LRDG would have had an even harder time without Popski, who with PPA is worth a show all his own.

The Long Range Desert Group has a strong claim to the first Special Forces unit in the British Army. .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 were formed, they 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

Hi Tim. As usual I love your stuff. Sorry to be a weapon spotter but I believe the LRDG were equipped with a 3.7 centimetre Bofors anti tank gun not a 3.7 mm Bofors anti aircraft gun.

My dad was in a RAMC field ambulance part of the LRGD tested for the SAS failed that but spent most of his time in ambulance first aid stations and hospitals behind enemy lines

At what point did O'Connor replace Hobart (later of Hobart's funnies)? And, do you have any more details on the small route between Cairo and Siwa through the Qattarra Depression?

north africa was the beginning of some of the most elite military units of WW-2' , mobs for jobs they called bash and dash gangs , the Small Scale Raiding Force , the long range desert group , popski's private army , the Sterling brothers and the SAS , lord earl jellico and the SBS , lord lovat and the lovat scouts , the commandos , the special service unit , force -601' , the boys were waging all out war

Loved it! Just nitpicking here at 6:00, but I'm pretty sure the Bofors are 37mm, not 3.7mm.

Video "The Swiss Beast - Home of the Devil" for the real Worldwar II story.

hi is there anyway i can check on names of the men that were in the lrdg icannot find any info into my dads n africa ca pain he was in the Raf but that is were everything ends

3.7mm Bofors? Gavin Mortimer said the same thing in 'The Men Who Made The SAS' but I think it should be 37mm.

Nowadays just use a open roofed Ferrari to charge in at 200 MPH. Or a F1 car. However I'm very intruiged at this division. The unsung heroes of the early North African Campaign. You should reveal more heroes that are not known in the war. Great Job!!!

The Australians were never in the running for inclusion in the formation of the Long Range Patrol

The Italians Obviously where not ready for battle but the British had no way to know that for sure so having a group like the LRDG was a logical to harass the enemy and gather intelligence.

3.7mm isn’t a very likely size for an anti aircraft gun?

That was thrilling. I really like these small unit operations like the SAS and the Brandenburgers. One thing I've always wondered: Why was the Italian morale in ww2 so terrible? I know they had a lot of leadership issues, but it seems that the average Italian soldier didn't have much motivation to fight compared to the other nations.

I had simular job in the IDF.

Err, the Vikings had sun compasses 1200 years or so before Bagnall.

Historically i can understand why Australia would not want their men under command of Britain.

my dad was in LRDG, heard many stories, when was disbanded, then served as a Palestine Policeman until pull out..the old man was a spot bollock mechanic...sorry folks no SAS story here...

any idea why "W" "T" "R" patrols ? These WTF would suit the reputation of the irregular force !?

What could have been mentoned is that without the LRDG, the famous SAS would have not existed. When Stirling took his men on their first mission, it was a parachute jump in a sandstorm. Half of his men and most of his equipement were never found.They never were in fact. Still M.I.A., presumed dead. The rest, including Sterling, had to be rescued by the LRDG. After that debacle, Sterling asked for the LRDG to ferry them about, until the SAS got their own transport. Their now famous Jeeps. Sterling even nicked the LRDG's best navigator. The original LRDG were all Kiwis because Command wanted tough, self sufficient men and the NZ hill country farmers fit the bill perfectly. Half the NZ Division volunteered for the job. The rest is history, sadly mostly forgotten.

I'll forever remember where Benghazi is now.

My dad was a L.R.D.G soldier.

Great video. My grandfather was an officer in the British Indian Army. He killed lots of Germans in North Africa and was in N. Africa before the arrival of Monty. He lied about his age in order to get into the BI Army, he was considered to be too old by regular standards. He used to swim a mile upstream and then a mile downstream in the local Indian River. He literally bet a group of people that he could win a marathon in a bar - and proceeded to collect from every last one of the dolts that bet against him. He was a man's man, and a wonderful man whom I deeply miss dearly every day. He hunted man eating tigers and leopards along with Jim Corbett. (Look it up.) He was also a hemophiliac who if he had been wounded seriously during battle he would have bled to death. And wiping out Germans was his job. And he did it well. I am named after him, and have some of the same characteristics. And sometimes TIK, your comments annoy me about economics while you appear to be living in the UK. You are not an economist, you are an historian. And a good one at that.But I read the works of PhD economists and have seen the reports by the London School of Economics (LSE) and the International Monetary Find (IMF) in two separate studies that showed neoliberal economics is a failed theory. All it does is enrich the already rich. In the US 60% of wealth is inherited, meaning the recipients DID NOT work for it. How does that fit within you Libertarian outlook, and I know you are Libertarian as you stated that taxes are a form of theft. They're not. They are the price we pay to live in a civilized society. If you want to dodge all taxes might I suggest you relocate to Botswana, or some African war torn nation, where your historical brilliance would be counted for naught. But you wouldn't have to pay any taxes. I suggest you shut it on the economics tripe. You Germans are far too ideological, and too fixed in your thinking. That is part of the reason for your people losing that Battle Of Britain, and if you want to argue with me about that I'll suggest you read, "The Battle of Britain: The Narrow Margin." Or maybe you can peruse "Tank Rider" about how those benighted communists under Stalin, a very vile dictator, but smart enough to finally let his generals direct the war, beat the Wehrmacht all to Hades, and back again. After the Battle of Kursk, your lot were basically finished. And my grandfather was at the Battle of El Alamein. Just how did that turn out for Rommel? Let's face a fact - the Fascist nations lost the war, and the liberal democracies won the war. The GI Bill was one of the greatest success stories of the US. And it was socialist in nature. I'm either a democratic socialist, or a socialist democrat. One of the rules that is held by people such as myself is pretty simple. No one party rule. Ever. The NHS, when not run by the Tories, does a pretty damned good job. Compare and contrast with the nightmare that is 'frei markt' US medicine, which is based upon grubbing for money rather than doing that which is right. I may stop watching your channel just because of you ideological economics. You're not an economist, plsy to your strength and be a decent historian.

I like your scottish accent. Would you write something on the Fall of Hong Kong Xmas 1941. There is a book "The Eastern Fortress" on Amazon that you may be interested in. It was a heroic resistance at the odd of 1:3 against the Japanese Imperial Army .In eighteen days over 1800 Commonwealth troops died and many more died in POW camps later. The Royal Scots battalions in particular made huge sacrifice. Thx

Major Ralph Bagnold drove model As not Ts around the Libyan desert in the 20s.

The Italian should use roman army’s tactics

It was just the glorious bravery of good old Britannia and its Empire

Prefer the old format where you are narrating in person. Nice story but would be better in your old style.

TIK YT

I think u made a mistake - 3.7 mm couldn't be carried on a truck! It was big and heavy But there's a photo of 3mm AA-Gun on stripped truck... maybe its a truck of LRDG? pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:3inch20cwtAAgunPeerlessLorryWWI.jpg

+TIK hey TIK, my dear Historyman, do you know, what Rommel's best answer was to LRDG? (hint: his name starts with A and his role and life was kinda screwed up in a nice romantic movie, incl. "la Binoche" ... : ) I have two sources about his (tiny) unit's role, one of them is in Hungarian - and it was first published in 1943(!) by A himself, it is a kind of "short novel book" - with everything "militarily interesting" self-censured. The other one is, however, a quite recent, thorough study, about one specific mission - and in English! (p.ex. whatever relevant radioing the British intercepted - with all ref codes, etc.) Do you feel this interesting? : ) Should I try to provide you with more info on this? : ) yours, limbekcs gm ail (erhh... Jim? ale!!! : )

3.7 mm. Bofors Anti Aircraft gun? Really?

What does it matter what we think , or for that matter what I know ? People are belligerent , obstinate bigots . They know everything .

How can he be taken too seriously when he claims they were driving Model T fords

What!! Did you think the Italians had no recon units, both on the ground and in the air? We all know how tyre tracks can show up like an X ray in the desert sands. Then, were the Italians so naive as not to foresee such an operation in their flank, against vital routes and communication. The LRDG was not successful overall. There was one operation where the Italians trapped them in a mountain pass and annialated the force. And in another seaborne attack some 300 allied men were lost. Your story is from Hollywood.

Your comments at the end besmirch NZ diggers in a way that I'm uncomfortable with. I've grown up hearing only about the Brits or Australian army battles. Your tale of history seems to be more of the same. I'd been told about my grandad by many but could never find much substance other than his service record, (corrected 15 years after the fact and awarded his medals. Arrived in Egypt 1939 in the first Echelon, injured in Tunisia, returned 1945. I'd been told there was a book he was in all my life. 'The Raiders' Desert Strike Force. Read the book. Book isn't about Pop, it's about David Stirling? Pop is mentioned page 67. Read page 68, wtf? David Stirling can get F%$#&D. Admits himself 3 officers, made 2 privates do all the work and when they break down and are stuck for 6 days in the bloody Sahara Desert with half a pint of water between them, the book says 'they drew straws', (my grandad told a different story)the send them off on foot with a pistol. Upon gleaning that information, I contacted the NZDF where I'd got his woeful service record and was told that the real records were kept in London? Wtf? The War Diaries were declassified in 2010. I have to travel there for access. Access that has been withheld from Diggers themselves and families all this time. It really is a deep betrayal that will be brought to light. This is your notice that if I can confirm it as it appears, I'm not going to feel the same about how you have spoken about their contribution. You're a bloody disgrace.