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Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP), the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph Alger Bagnold, acting under the direction of General Archibald Wavell. Bagnold was assisted by Captain Patrick Clayton and Captain William Shaw. The majority of the men were from New Zealand, but they were soon joined by a few Southern Rhodesian and British volunteers, whereupon new sub-units were formed and the name was changed to the better-known Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). The LRDG never numbered more than 350 men, all of whom were volunteers. The LRDG was formed specifically to carry out deep penetration, covert reconnaissance patrols and intelligence missions from behind Italian lines, although they sometimes engaged in combat operations. Because the LRDG were experts in desert navigation, they were sometimes assigned to guide other units, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Kennedy Shaw
William Boyd Kennedy Shaw Order of the British Empire, OBE (26 October 1901 – 23 April 1979) was a British desert explorer, botany, botanist, archaeologist and soldier. During the Second World War he served with the British Army's Long Range Desert Group, and the Special Air Service, Special Air Service Regiment. He was known, variously as Bill Shaw or Bill Kennedy-Shaw, but preferred the latter form of his name, which he always used in his writings. Early life Kennedy-Shaw was born on 26 October 1901, the son of Colonel F. S. Kennedy-Shaw, of King's Orchard, Teffont Magna, Wiltshire. He received his formal education at Radley College. In the 1920s and 1930s Kennedy-Shaw contributed to the exploration of the Western Desert (Egypt), Western Desert in the area around the south-western corner of modern Egypt with his particular interest and skills as a botanist, archaeologist and navigator. He made four major trips: During the winter of 1927/1928 Kennedy-Shaw and Douglas Newbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always ending with a stinger. The evolutionary history of scorpions goes back Silurian, 435 million years. They mainly live in deserts but have adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, and can be found on all continents except Antarctica. There are over 2,500 described species, with 22 extant (living) families recognized to date. Their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy is being revised to account for 21st-century genomic studies. Scorpions primarily prey on insects and other invertebrates, but some species hunt vertebrates. They use their pincers to restrain and kill prey, or to prevent their own predation. The Scorpion sting, venomous sting is used for offense and defense. During courtship, the male and female ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Leros
The Battle of Leros was a combat over the Greek island of Leros between the Allies of World War II, Allies defending it and invading forces of Nazi Germany waged between 26 September and 16 November 1943. Regarded as the central event of the Dodecanese campaign of the World War II, Second World War, the term is widely used as an alternative name for the whole campaign. After the Armistice of Cassibile the Kingdom of Italy, Italian garrison on the Greece, Greek island Leros was strengthened by United Kingdom, British forces on 15 September 1943. The battle began with German air attacks, continued with the landings on 12 November, and ended with the capitulation of the Allied forces four days later. Background The island of Leros is part of the Dodecanese island group in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, which had been under Italian occupation since the Italo-Turkish War. During Italian rule, Leros, with its excellent deep-water port of Lakki, Leros, Lakki (Portolago), was transfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South Zambesia until annexation by Britain, at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company (for whom the colony was named). The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (Mozambique) and the Transvaal Republic (for two brief periods known as the British Transvaal Colony; from 1910, the Union of South Africa and, from 1961, the Republic of South Africa). Since 1980, the colony's territory is the independent nation of Zimbabwe. This southern region, known for its extensive gold reserves, was first purchased by the BSAC's Pioneer Column on the strength of a mineral concession extracted from its Matabele king, Lobengula, and various majority Mashona vassal chiefs in 18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pat Clayton
Pat or PAT may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Pat (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Pat (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a gardener * Pat (Saturday Night Live), Pat (''Saturday Night Live''), an androgynous character * Postman Pat, a British children's TV character * Pat, from the Czech series ''Pat & Mat'' * Pat the Dog, a character from the TV show of the same name * Pat, or Lucky's Dad, List of Bluey characters, a ''Bluey'' character * Pat, daughter-in-law of Jake the Dog in ''Adventure Time'' Other uses in arts, entertainment and media *"Pat" (album), ''"Pat"'' (album), by Pat Boone, 1957 * , in Bolivia Businesses and organisations * Pakistan Awami Tehreek, a political party * Polish Telegraphic Agency, the official news agency of Poland 1918–1991 * Port Authority of Thailand * Professional Association of Teachers, later Voice, a former British trade union * PAT (), a type of Ukrainian List of legal entity types by country#Ukraine, le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archibald Wavell
Field Marshal Archibald Percival Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, (5 May 1883 – 24 May 1950) was a senior officer of the British Army. He served in the Second Boer War, the Bazar Valley Campaign and the First World War, during which he was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres. In the Second World War, he served initially as Commander-in-Chief Middle East, in which role he led British forces to victory over the Italian Army in Eritrea- Abyssinia, western Egypt and eastern Libya during Operation Compass in December 1940, only to be defeated by Erwin Rommel's Panzer Army Africa in the Western Desert in April 1941. He served as Commander-in-Chief, India, from July 1941 until June 1943 (apart from a brief tour as Commander of American-British-Dutch-Australian Command) and then served as Viceroy of India until his retirement in February 1947. Early life Born the son of Archibald Graham Wavell (who later became a major-general in the British Army and military commander of Johanne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northern coast of Egypt, the north, the Gaza Strip of Palestine and Israel to Egypt–Israel barrier, the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to Egypt–Sudan border, the south, and Libya to Egypt–Libya border, the west; the Gulf of Aqaba in the northeast separates Egypt from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Cairo is the capital, list of cities and towns in Egypt, largest city, and leading cultural center, while Alexandria is the second-largest city and an important hub of industry and tourism. With over 109 million inhabitants, Egypt is the List of African countries by population, third-most populous country in Africa and List of countries and dependencies by population, 15th-most populated in the world. Egypt has one of the longest histories o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Army During The Second World War
At the start of 1939, the British Army was, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its enemies, as it had been at the beginning of the First World War in 1914. It also quickly became evident that the initial structure and manpower of the British Army was woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for a war with multiple enemies on multiple fronts. During the early war years, mainly from 1940 to 1942, the British Army suffered defeat in almost every theatre of war in which it was deployed. From late 1942 onwards, starting with the Second Battle of El Alamein, the British Army's fortunes changed and it rarely suffered another defeat. While there are a number of reasons for this shift, not least the entrance of both the Soviet Union and the United States in 1941, as well as the cracking of the Enigma code that same year, an important ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Lloyd Owen
Major General David Lanyon Lloyd Owen, (10 October 1917 – 5 April 2001) was a British soldier and writer. During the Second World War he commanded the Long Range Desert Group. Early life and military career Born in Hampton, in the county of Middlesex, England, on 10 October 1917, David Lloyd-Owen was the son of Captain Reginald Charles Lloyd-Owen. He was educated at Winchester College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Upon passing out from the latter, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) on 27 January 1938. He was with the 2nd Battalion of his regiment, then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Ross, in Palestine during the Arab revolt. Among Lloyd Owen's fellow officers in the battalion was Michael Forrester, another future major general. He later served in the Western Desert from 1939 to July 1941, during the Second World War, when he joined the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). Second World War Lloyd Owen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Richard Easonsmith
John ("Jake") Richard Easonsmith (12 April 1909 – 16 November 1943) was a British Army soldier during World War II. He was killed in action on the Dodecanese island of Leros whilst commanding the Long Range Desert Group in 1943. W. B. Kennedy-Shaw described him as: "Brave, wise, with an uprightness that shamed lesser men, he was, I think, the finest man we ever had in the L.R.D.G." Early life John Richard Easonsmith was born in Bristol, England, on 12 April 1909, the son of George Easonsmith, a printer, and Daisy Easonsmith. He received his education at Mill Hill School in London, and Clifton College, Bristol. After leaving school he joined W.D. and H.O. Wills a British tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer in Bristol. Afterwards he entered the wine trade as a salesman with the Emu Australian Wine Company Limited. Recreationally he was a member and played for the Clifton Rugby Football Club.''Bristol Evening Post'' 24 November 1943: Obituary John Richard Easonsmith He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Prendergast (British Army Officer)
Guy Lenox Prendergast (c. 8 July 1905 – 6 October 1986) was an English Saharan explorer, and British Army soldier in World War II. He was the commanding officer of the Long Range Desert Group from 1941 to 1943. Early life Guy Lenox Prendergast was one of a group of British Saharan explorers in the late 1920s and early 1930s, which included Ralph Alger Bagnold, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw, who had explored the desert before World War II and had gained much valuable experience in navigating its hostile terrain. Prendergast learnt to fly as part of the Western Arab Corps in Sudan in the 1930s. Military career After the outbreak of World War II, Prendergast received a commission with the British Army's Royal Tank Regiment. Together with his explorer associates he was involved in the formation of the Long Range Desert Group (L.R.D.G.) under the command of Bagnold. On 1 August 1941 Prendergast was promoted lieutenant colonel, and was appointed as the Commanding Officer of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralph Alger Bagnold
Brigadier Ralph Alger Bagnold, OBE, FRS, (3 April 1896 – 28 May 1990) was an English 20th-century desert explorer, geologist, and soldier. Bagnold served in the First World War as an engineer in the British Army. In 1932, he staged the first recorded East-to-West crossing of the Libyan Desert. His work in the field of Aeolian processes was the basis for the book '' The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes'', establishing the discipline of aeolian geomorphology, combining field work observations, experiments and physical equations. His work has been used by United States' space agency NASA in its study of the terrain of the planet Mars, the Bagnold Dunes on Mars' surface were named after him by the organisation. He returned to the forces in the Second World War, in which he founded the behind-the-lines reconnaissance, espionage, and raiding unit the "Long Range Desert Group", serving as its first commanding officer in the North Africa campaign. Early life Bagnold wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
