William Boyd Kennedy Shaw OBE (26 October 1901 – 23 April 1979) was a British desert explorer,

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and soldier. During the Second World War he served with the British Army's

Long Range Desert Group )Gross, O'Carroll and Chiarvetto 2009, p.20 , patron = , motto = ''Non Vi Sed Arte'' (Latin: ''Not by Strength, but by Guile'') (unofficial) , colours = , colours_label ...

, and the

Special Air Service Regiment The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957, it was modelled on the British SAS sharing the motto, "Who Dares Wins". The reg ...

. 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 Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

F. S. Kennedy-Shaw, of King's Orchard,

Teffont Magna Teffont Magna, sometimes called Upper Teffont, is a small village and former civil parish in the Nadder valley in the south of the county of Wiltshire, England. For most of its history Teffont Magna was a chapelry of neighbouring Dinton. In 1 ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. He received his formal education at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, and ...

. In the 1920s and 1930s Kennedy-Shaw contributed to the exploration of the Western Desert in the area around the south-western corner of modern

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

with his particular interest and skills as a botanist, archaeologist and navigator. He made three major trips: During the winter of 1927/1928 Kennedy-Shaw and Douglas Newbold, on leave from the Sudan Government service, travelled the Arba’in slave road from Selima and Bir Natrun, covering 1,000 km by camel. In October 1930 Kennedy-Shaw accompanied

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 ...

on a trip from

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

to Ain Dalla, into the Sand Sea, past Ammonite hill to the

Gilf Kebir Gilf Kebir () (var. Gilf al-Kebir, Jilf al Kabir, Gilf Kebir Plateau) is a plateau in the New Valley Governorate of the remote southwest corner of Egypt, and southeast Libya. Its name translates as "the Great Barrier". This sandstone plateau, ro ...

, south to Uweinat and on to

Wadi Halfa Wādī Ḥalfā ( ar, وادي حلفا) is a city in the Northern state of Sudan on the shores of Lake Nubia near the border with Egypt. It is the terminus of a rail line from Khartoum and the point where goods are transferred from rail to ferr ...

, returning via the Arba’in slave road via Salima oasis, Kharga and then Aysut. He also travelled with Bagnold in 1932 from

Kharga The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: , ) ; Coptic: ( "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or ...

, to Uweinat, Sarra, Tekro, Uweinat,

El Fasher Al Fashir, Al-Fashir or El Fasher ( ar, الفاشر) is the capital city of North Darfur, Sudan. It is a large town in the Darfur region of northwestern Sudan, northeast of Nyala, Sudan. "Al-Fashir" (description) ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, Bir Natrun, Merga, Laqia, Selima,

, Dakhla,

Bahariya El-Wahat el-Bahariya or el-Bahariya ( ar, الواحات البحرية "''El-Wāḥāt El-Baḥrīya''", "the Northern Oases"); is a depression and a naturally rich oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. It is approximately 370 km away from ...

and Cairo, a total distance of 6,000 miles.

Second World War

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Bagnold recruited Kennedy-Shaw from the British Imperial

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

Administration's office in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

where he was employed, to be the Intelligence and Chief Navigation officer for the

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 ...

's new

Long Range Desert Group )Gross, O'Carroll and Chiarvetto 2009, p.20 , patron = , motto = ''Non Vi Sed Arte'' (Latin: ''Not by Strength, but by Guile'') (unofficial) , colours = , colours_label ...

(LRDG) that Bagnold was assembling. Kennedy-Shaw served initially as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the General List. He transferred to the Intelligence Corps in 1940, and to the

in 1944 when the LRDG ceased operations with the conclusion of the North Africa Campaign. He reached the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, being

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

during his service. From 1944 to 1945 he served as the GSO 2 (Intelligence) at the SAS Brigade's Headquarters in the

North-West Europe Campaign The North West Europe campaign was a campaign by the British Commonwealth armed forces in North West Europe, including its skies and adjoining waters during World War II. The term Western Front has also sometimes been used informally. The United S ...

Post-war life

He wrote one of the first books on the LRDG, entitled ''"The Long Range Desert Group"''(1945), which was subject to pre-publication approval by the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

who required changes to be made to the text; in particular the codenames of the operations he described and some real names of individuals involved in special operations. He also wrote several articles that were published in the Journal of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. (The Greenhill Military Paperbacks edition of his book contains supplementary notes on his life and has updating amendments to his original text, commissioned by the publisher from authorities on the subject, which notes and explains the original excisions).

Death

Kennedy-Shaw died on 23 April 1979 at the age of 77 years in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

Decorations

For his services during the War Kennedy-Shaw received the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, and was

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. He was also awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

(Belgium) 1st Class, the Croix de Guerre (

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) with Palm, and the Officer grade of the

Order of Oranje-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

, with sword, from the Queen of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Notes

References

* ''Long Range Desert Group'' by Bill Kennedy-Shaw * ''Libyan Sands, Travel in a dead world'' by

* ''The Long Range Desert Group'' by

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 M ...

* ''The Hunt for Zerzura and World War II'' (about members of the Zerzura Club in World War II) by Saul Kelly * ''The Secret Life of Laszlo Almasy'' by John Bierman

External links

Inquiring Minds: The Intrepid Explorer W.B. Kennedy Shaw

LRDG Preservation Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy Shaw, William B. 1901 births 1979 deaths British Army General List officers British Army personnel of World War II English explorers English archaeologists English botanists Intelligence Corps officers Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Radley College Special Air Service officers Long Range Desert Group personnel Military personnel from Wiltshire British expatriates in Egypt