Guy Lenox Prendergast (c. 8 July 1905 – 6 October 1986) was an English

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n explorer, and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

soldier in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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

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n explorers in the late 1920s and early 1930s, which included

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. In 1932, he staged the first recorded East-to-West crossing of the Libyan Desert. His work in the fi ...

, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw, who had explored the desert before

and had gained much valuable experience in navigating its hostile terrain. Prendergast learnt to fly as part of the

Western Arab Corps Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in the 1930s.

Military career

After the outbreak of World War II, Prendergast received a commission with the British Army's

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

. 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 Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, and was appointed as the Commanding Officer of the L.R.D.G., which he led between November 1941 and October 1943. It was thanks to

Ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...

and Prendergast and his L.R.D.G. that the Allies were able to hold on to Egypt in spite of heavy armoured reinforcements reaching

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

’s Afrika Korps through Tunisia, including the much feared Panzer Mark IIIs and IVs. After viewing detailed intelligence reports prepared by an embedded L.R.D.G. detachment, Deputy Director of Middle East Intelligence, Major (later Brigadier) John Enoch Powell concluded that an outflanking movement through the Qattara Depression was highly unlikely, given the terrain and lack of supply infrastructure able to handle heavy matériel. After commanding the L.R.D.G., Prendergast went on to be Deputy Commander of Raiding Forces, and later Deputy Commander of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

Brigade in 1944–1945, and subsequently Commander of the Free French SAS Regiments, with the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. For his wartime service he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

in December 1942. and the Czechoslovakian Order of the White Lion III Class.

Death

He died on 6 October 1986 at the age of 81 years. His body was buried at Strathoich Cemetery, in

Fort Augustus Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism. History The Gaeli ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

.Entry for Prendergast's grave, Findagrave website (2019). https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/146803328/guy-lenox-prendergast

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prendergast, Guy Lenox 1986 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Tank Regiment officers Special Air Service officers 1900s births Long Range Desert Group personnel British Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Berkshire