177-867: 1941 1942 Associated articles 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
354-471: A 1922 referendum . In view of the outcome of the referendum, the territory was annexed by the United Kingdom on 12 September 1923. Shortly after annexation, on 1 October 1923, the first constitution for the new Colony of Southern Rhodesia came into force. Under this constitution Sir Charles Coghlan became the first Premier of First Cabinet of Southern Rhodesia and upon his death in 1927 he
531-486: A protectorate . Queen Victoria signed the charter in 1889. Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the Pioneer Column , a group of white settlers protected by well-armed British South Africa Police (BSAP) and guided by the big game hunter Frederick Selous , through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (now Harare ). In 1893–1894, with the help of their new Maxim guns ,
708-729: A 75mm gun, and the ability to fire high explosive and anti-tank rounds, were better than any other tank then in British service. A British development of the Sherman led to the Sherman Firefly, which was the only tank able to defeat German Panther , Tiger I and Tiger II tanks at range, until the Comet tank entered service in late 1944. The British divisional anti-tank weapon was the Ordnance QF 2-pounder , which had three times
885-605: A Māori name starting with 'Te' (for example, ' Te Anau ') in the corresponding places. The 'W' Patrol vehicles had a Māori name or word starting with 'W' painted on their vehicles. The British 'G' Patrol vehicles carried no distinctive markings, although some vehicles had the Guards insignia. They took over 'W' Patrol's vehicles when that unit was disbanded. The 'Y' Patrol vehicles were slightly different; 'Y1' half-patrol vehicles all had names of famous drinking establishments (such as 'Cock O' The North') and 'Y2' half-patrol had names from
1062-467: A bigger radiator , a condenser system, built up leaf springs for the harsh terrain, wide, low pressure desert tyres , sand mats and channels, plus map containers and a sun compass devised by Bagnold. Wireless trucks had special compartments built into the bodywork to house wireless equipment. Initially the LRDG patrols were equipped with one Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) Ford 15 cwt F15 truck for
1239-536: A broken radio prevent a patrol communicating with its headquarters. All LRDG patrols included one vehicle equipped with a Wireless Set No. 11 and a non-military Philips model 635 receiver. The No. 11 Set had been designed for use in tanks, and had transmitter and receiver circuits; the Royal Signals expected to use the No. 11 set to transmit and receive between 3 miles (4.8 km) and 20 miles (32 km) with
1416-572: A broken rear axle had been towed about 900 miles (1,400 km) before it could be repaired. Total casualties were three dead and three captured. Major Clayton was awarded the Distinguished Service Order . After Operation Compass ended with the Italians forced out of Cyrenaica it was decided to move the LRDG from Cairo to Kufra (SE Libya). At the same time the LRDG was expanded with the addition of 'Y' and 'S' Patrols. When
1593-574: A further nine armoured divisions, some of which were training formations and saw no action. Three were formed from first-line territorial or Yeomanry units. Six more were raised from various sources. As with the infantry divisions, not all existed at the same time, as several armoured divisions were disbanded or reduced to skeleton establishments during the course of the war, as a result of battle casualties or to provide reinforcements to bring other formations up to full strength. The structure of British armoured divisions changed several times before and during
1770-618: A large majority of candidates of the Responsible Government Association and it became clear that BSAC rule was no longer practical. Opinion in the United Kingdom and South Africa favoured incorporation of Southern Rhodesia in the Union of South Africa , but, by forcing the pace of negotiation, the Southern Rhodesians obtained unfavourable terms and the electorate backed Responsible Government in
1947-421: A large number of troops were seen passing, they would radio the LRDG headquarters at Siwa immediately so that by the time the enemy reached the front line, GHQ at Cairo would know they were coming. Once a patrol was relieved they would transmit details of all they had seen back to Siwa. The LRDG did not lose any men or vehicles when on the road watch, but they did have some close encounters. On 21 March 'R1' Patrol
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#17327728945092124-755: A light anti-aircraft regiment with fifty-four Bofors 40 mm guns; three field companies and one field park company of the Royal Engineers ; three transport companies of the Royal Army Service Corps ; an ordnance field park company of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps ; three field ambulances of the Royal Army Medical Corps , a signals unit of the Royal Corps of Signals ; and a provost company of
2301-590: A light armoured brigade, a cavalry brigade, a heavy armoured group of two regiments and a pivot group. By 1939, the intention was for an Armoured Division to consist of two armoured brigades, a support group and divisional troops. The armoured brigades would each be composed of three armoured regiments with a mixture of light and medium tanks, with a total complement of 220 tanks, while the support group would be composed of two motorised infantry battalions, two field artillery regiments, one anti–tank regiment and one light anti–aircraft regiment. In late 1940, following
2478-476: A minority of elected seats, through which the BSAC had to pass government measures. As the company was a British institution in which settlers and capitalists owned most shares, and local black African tribal chiefs the remainder, and the electorate to this council was limited to those shareholders, the electorate was almost exclusively white settlers. Over time as more settlers arrived and a growing number had less than
2655-668: A period of interim British control following the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979, the country achieved internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980. Initially, the territory was referred to as "South Zambezia", a reference to the River Zambezi , until the name "Rhodesia" came into use in 1895. This was in honour of Cecil Rhodes , the British empire-builder and key figure during
2832-490: A small flag. Because the LRP was organised on divisional cavalry lines the leaders carried green flags for 'A' (HQ) Troop, black for 'B' Troop, yellow for 'C' Troop and red for 'D'. When the LRDG was organised into 11 vehicle patrols this was simplified to a green flag displaying the patrol letter in white; the later half-patrols used a plain green flag on occasion. When it became necessary to change course from an intended route, or in
3009-518: A small fort and about 20 Italians. 'S2' and 'R2' Patrols attacked targets in the Benghazi , Barce and Marawa area, where they ambushed nine vehicles. 'G1' and 'G2' Patrols were assigned the main road near Agedabia where 'G1' made two attacks on road traffic and shot up a few vehicles. After the Axis forces withdrew from Cyrenaica the LRDG moved to a base at Jalo oasis , about 140 miles (230 km) to
3186-477: A squadron headquarters of three tanks. The Sabre Squadrons contained three close support tanks, 12 medium tanks, and four Sherman Fireflys . Additionally, 18 tanks were allocated to the armoured brigade's headquarters and a further ten to the division's headquarters. The Royal Artillery was a large corps, responsible for the provision of field, medium, heavy, mountain, anti-tank and anti-aircraft units. (Some field regiments, particularly self-propelled regiments in
3363-637: A team of 36 men were parachuted into Albania in September 1944. Their mission was to follow the German retreat and assist Albanian resistance groups in attacking them. In October 1944, two British Squadron patrols were parachuted into the Florina area of Greece . Here they mined a road used by the retreating Germans, destroying three vehicles and blocking the road. Firing on the stranded convoy from an adjacent hillside, they directed RAF aircraft in to destroy
3540-467: A three-gun troop was as effective, shooting in a triangular formation, so the batteries were reorganised as four troops of three guns. The troops were subsequently increased in size to six guns, so the regiment then had three batteries each with eighteen Bofors 40 mm guns. This equipment and organisation remained unchanged throughout the war. The Royal Artillery also formed twelve Anti–aircraft divisions, equipped with heavier weapons. These were mainly
3717-400: A white-dominated government led by Ian Smith . After a long civil war ensued between the white (until 1979) government and two African majority, Soviet Bloc -aligned 'liberation movements' ( Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army and Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ). The Salisbury government, realizing the situation was untenable, and facing strong international pressure, concluded
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#17327728945093894-573: Is only one surviving member of the group, Jack Mann. A series of radio interviews were made with members of the LRDG in 1941 by the New Zealand Broadcasting Unit. Some can be heard online on the catalogue of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision: 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
4071-834: The 21st Army Group and all men being called up to the Army were trained as infantrymen. Furthermore, 35,000 men from the RAF Regiment and the Royal Artillery were transferred to the infantry and were retrained as rifle infantrymen, where the majority of combat casualties fell. In addition, in the Eighth Army fighting in the Italian Campaign of the Mediterranean theatre several units, mainly infantry, were also disbanded to provide replacements, including
4248-420: The 3-inch and 3.7-inch anti–aircraft guns, but also the 4.5-inch and 5.25-inch guns where convenient. These divisions were organised into Anti-Aircraft Command , which was commanded throughout the war by Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Alfred Pile . Each Anti-aircraft division was also responsible for searchlight and barrage balloon units within its assigned area. The first raiding forces formed during
4425-787: The 50th and 77th Indian Parachute brigades. Units that operated as smaller bodies included the Long Range Desert Group , which was formed in North Africa to report on movements and activities behind the German and Italian lines. The Special Air Service was formed in 1941 for raiding missions behind the lines, and later the Special Air Service Brigade was formed to support the Normandy landings . Popski's Private Army , formed in August 1942,
4602-688: The Battle of Gazala and the fall of Tobruk , the LRDG were forced to withdraw from Siwa on 28 June. 'A' Squadron withdrew to Cairo to resupply and then moved back to Kufra, while 'B' Squadron moved to Faiyum . With the Eighth Army now holding the El Alamein line, plans were submitted to attack the Axis supply lines and the ports of Benghazi and Tobruk. In September 1942, British Commandos would attack Tobruk by land and sea ( Operation Agreement ). The SAS would attack Benghazi ( Operation Bigamy ) and
4779-527: The Beretta M 1934 , Luger P08 and Walther P38 pistols. The German MP40 submachine gun and MG34 , MG42 along with Italian Breda M37 and Breda M38 machine guns were all used. In the LRP, most of the radio operators were New Zealanders, but the LRDG radio operators were all from the Royal Corps of Signals . These men were skilled in communications and were able to maintain and repair their equipment without any outside help. On only three occasions did
4956-711: The British Armed Forces should draft their estimates "on the assumption that the British Empire would not be engaged in any great war during the next ten years". In 1928, Winston Churchill , who was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 6 November 1924 to 4 June 1929 (and who later became Prime Minister) , successfully urged the British Government to make the Rule self-perpetuating so that it
5133-930: The British Commandos were formed following Winston Churchill's call for "specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast." By 1941, the Commandos were carrying out raids on the German-occupied Norwegian coast in Operation Claymore and Operation Archery and in 1942, they formed the assault troops for the St Nazaire Raid . They eventually formed 30 battalion-sized commando units (including 8 Royal Marines units), some of which were organised within four brigades; 1st , 2nd , 3rd , and 4th Commando brigades. Impressed by
5310-776: The Dunkirk evacuation of Allied Forces from France (May–June 1940), the army fought in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres , and in the Burma Campaign . After a series of setbacks, retreats and evacuations, the British Army and its Allies eventually gained the upper hand. This began with victory in the Tunisian Campaign in North Africa in May 1943, followed by Italy being forced to surrender after
5487-649: The Folboat Section later the Special Boat Section of No 8 Commando. A little known force that never saw combat were the Auxiliary Units , a specially trained and secret organisation that, in the event of an invasion, would provide resistance behind the lines. Auxiliary Units were well equipped and supplied with food for 14 days, which was their expected lifespan. Selected for aptitude and local knowledge, men were mostly recruited from
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5664-582: The Free French at Kufra . The unit was then issued a 25-pounder gun-howitzer portee . The LRDG successfully attacked and captured the fort at El Gtafia using the gun, but later the truck had to be abandoned and the experiment ended. In October 1941 the LRDG was expanded to 10 patrols by the simple method of splitting the existing patrols into two-half patrols; the New Zealanders formed A Squadron comprising 'R1', 'R2', 'T1', and 'T2' Patrols and
5841-760: The Home Guard in July 1940. Civilians aged between 17 and 65, who were not in military service, were asked to enlist in the LDV. The response was 250,000 volunteers attempting to sign up in the first seven days and reached 1.5 million volunteers by July. The LDV had achieved official legal status on 17 May when the Privy Council issued the Defence (Local Defence Volunteers) Order in Council , and orders were issued from
6018-677: The Internal Settlement with black nationalist leaders in March 1978. A general election a year later resulted in the creation of a unity government, which in December 1979 concluded the Lancaster House Agreement , whereby Britain resumed control of the country for a brief period before granting independence to the renamed Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980. On 7 October 1964, the Southern Rhodesian government announced that when Northern Rhodesia achieved independence as Zambia,
6195-664: The Mareth Offensive when they guided the 2nd New Zealand Division around the Mareth Line in March 1943. In May 1943 the LRDG was sent to Lebanon to retrain in mountain warfare. However, following the Italian armistice in 1943 , they were sent to Leros , one of the Dodecanese islands , to serve as normal infantry. They later took part in the Battle of Leros , where the commanding officer John Richard Easonsmith
6372-705: The Mills bomb , the No. 68 Anti-tank and the No. 69 . Each truck was outfitted with a Lee–Enfield EY rifle attachment with a discharger cup able to fire the No. 36M Mills rifle grenade . The LRDG also laid land mines , the most common being the Mk 2 mine . Other explosives included the Lewes bombs , a custom made weapon using Nobel 808 used to destroy aircraft and other targets, and sticky bombs used to destroy enemy vehicles. Captured German and Italian small arms were utilised including
6549-909: The Reconnaissance Corps was formed in January 1941. Ten infantry battalions were reformed as reconnaissance battalions. The Reconnaissance Corps was merged into the Royal Armoured Corps in 1944. The Infantry brigade typically had a HQ company and three infantry battalions. Fire support was provided by the allocation of an MMG company, anti tank battery, Royal Engineer company and/or field artillery regiment as required. Brigade Groups , which operated independently, had Royal Engineer, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers units permanently assigned. Brigade groups were also formed on an ad-hoc basis and were given whatever resources
6726-588: The Royal Military Police . During the war, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers was formed to take over the responsibility of recovering and repairing vehicles and other equipment. A division generally had three workshop companies, and a recovery company from the REME. There were very few variations on this standard establishment. For example, the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division
6903-402: The Sudan Defence Force would capture Jalo oasis ( Operation Nicety ). The LRDG would be used to guide the attacking forces to their targets and at the same time, a LRDG force would attack Barce ( Operation Caravan ). The Barce force consisted of 17 vehicles and 47 men of 'G1' and 'T1' Patrols, which had to travel 1,155 miles (1,859 km) to reach their target. On arrival 'T1' Patrol attacked
7080-432: The Union of South Africa and, from 1961, the Republic of South Africa ). 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 1890. Though parts of the territory were laid-claim-to by the Bechuana and Portugal, its first people,
7257-468: The Zambezi Gorge. This situation caused some embarrassment for the Zambian government later when it was a "front line state" in support of insurgents into Rhodesia in that its major source of electric power was controlled by the Rhodesian state. With the protectorate of Northern Rhodesia no longer in existence, in 1964, Southern Rhodesia reverted to the name Rhodesia (see next section). In 1965, Rhodesia unilaterally declared itself independent under
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7434-431: 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,
7611-642: The " Three Musketeers " books (for example, ' Aramis ') on the left sides of their vehicle bonnets. The Headquarters Section used a sequence of letters arranged in a square (see photo of "Louise"). The Rhodesian 'S' Patrol vehicles had names with a Rhodesian connection (such as ' Salisbury ') painted on the left side of the vehicles' bonnets. By 1943 the practice of naming replacement vehicles was dropped. The LRDG vehicles were mainly two wheel drive , chosen because they were lighter and used less fuel than four wheel drive . They were stripped of all non-essentials, including doors, windscreens and roofs. They were fitted with
7788-464: The "Bushmen" (or Sān or Khoisan ), had possessed it for countless centuries beforehand and had continued to inhabit the region. Following the colony's unilateral dissolution in 1970 by the Republic of Rhodesia government, the Colony of Southern Rhodesia was re-established in 1979 as the predecessor state to the Republic of Zimbabwe Rhodesia which, in-turn, was the predecessor state of the Republic of Zimbabwe . Its only true geographical borders were
7965-445: The 'Road Watch' along the Via Balbia (the Tripoli to Benghazi road). Three patrols were engaged on road watch duties at any one time, with one watching the road for a week to 10 days, another would be en route to relieve them and the third was returning to Siwa after having been relieved. The site of the road watch was about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the Marble Arch monument. The road watch patrol would park about 2 miles away from
8142-437: The 1st Armoured Division and several other smaller units, such as the 168th Brigade , had to be reduced to cadre , and several other units had to be amalgamated. For example, the 2nd and 6th battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were merged in August 1944. At the same time, most infantry battalions in Italy had to be reduced from four to three rifle companies . The pre-war army had allowed recruits to be assigned to
8319-445: The 25-pounder in this role was it effectiveness above 1,200 yards (1,100 m) was limited and it deprived the army of indirect fire support. Only 78 25-pounders had been delivered when the war began, so old 18-pounders , many of which had been converted to using 25-pounder ammunition as 18/25-pounders, were also employed. Each field artillery regiment was originally organised as two batteries, each of two troops of six guns. This
8496-508: The 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards and the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards under command of Captain Michael Crichton-Stuart. The 'Y' Patrol men were drawn from the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry under command of Captain P. J. D. McCraith, with additional men from the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders . In December 1940, 'W' Patrol was disbanded and its personnel used to bring 'R' and 'T' Patrols up to strength, while 'G' Patrol took over their vehicles. By June 1941
8673-417: The 6-pounder, nevertheless did not enter service until early 1942. Even before the 6-pounder was introduced, it was felt that even heavier weapons would be needed, so the 17-pounder was designed, first seeing service in the North African Campaign in late 1942. Each division also had a light anti-aircraft regiment. Initially, batteries were organised in troops of four guns, but combat experience showed that
8850-510: The BSAC and the black tribes, Acts of Parliament delineating BSAC and Crown Lands, overlapping British colonial commission authority of both areas, the rights of the increasing number of British settlers and their descendants were given secondary review by authorities. This resulted in the formation of new movements for expanding the self-government of the Rhodesian people which saw BSAC rule as an impediment to further expansion. The Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council election of 1920 returned
9027-408: The BSAP defeated the Ndebele in the First Matabele War , a war which also resulted in the death of King Lobengula and the death of most of the members of the Shangani Patrol . Shortly after the disastrous BSAP Jameson Raid into the Transvaal Republic , the Ndebele were led by their spiritual leader Mlimo against the white colonials and thus began the Second Matabele War (1896–97) which resulted in
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#17327728945099204-618: The Battle of Normandy in 1944, the divisions consisted of two brigades: an armoured brigade of three armoured regiments and a motorised infantry battalion, and an infantry brigade containing three motorised infantry battalions. The division's support troops included an armoured car regiment, an armoured reconnaissance regiment, two field artillery regiments (one of which was equipped with 24 Sexton self-propelled 25-pounder guns), one anti–tank regiment (with one or more batteries equipped with Archer or Achilles tank destroyers in place of towed anti–tank guns) and one light anti–aircraft regiment, with
9381-542: The Bofors 37 mm, and each half-patrol was equipped with one Breda "Gun truck". In September 1942 the .50 Browning AN/M2 heavy machine gun began to replace both calibres of the Vickers machine guns and the Boys anti-tank rifle. The men of the LRDG carried the standard British Second World War small arms , the Lee–Enfield No.1 Mk III* being the primary rifle. Other small arms carried were Thompson submachine guns and .38 Enfield , Webley & Scott or .45 Colt 1911A1 pistols. Several types of hand grenade were used:
9558-406: The British Army being the least popular service compared to the Royal Navy and RAF, a higher proportion of army recruits were said to be dull and backwards. The following memorandum to the executive committee of the Army Council highlighted the growing concern. "The British Army is wasting manpower in this war almost as badly as it did in the last war. A man is posted to a Corps almost entirely on
9735-429: The British Army during the First World War and many soldiers returned embittered by their experiences. The British people had also suffered economic hardships after the war and with the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s had contributed to a widespread antipathy to involvement in another war. One of the results was the adoption of a doctrine of casualty avoidance, as the British Army knew that British society, and
9912-409: The British Army suffered defeat in almost every theatre of war in which it was deployed. But, 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
10089-434: The British and Rhodesians formed B Squadron comprising 'G1', 'G2', 'S1', 'S2', 'Y1', and 'Y2' Patrols. The 'H' Patrol had been disbanded in September 1941 after three months service. These two squadrons were joined in December 1941 by the Indian Long Range Squadron , which had been formed by volunteers from the 2nd Lancers , 11th Cavalry and the 18th Cavalry , all part of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade . The Indian Squadron
10266-434: The British expansion into southern Africa . In 1888 Rhodes obtained mineral rights from the most powerful local traditional leaders through treaties such as the Rudd Concession and the Moffat Treaty , which was signed by King Lobengula of the Ndebele people . "Southern" was first used in 1898 and dropped from normal usage in 1964, on the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland . " Rhodesia " then remained
10443-433: The Corps of their wishes. This led to men being allocated to the wrong or unsuitable Corps . The Secretary of State for War , Leslie Hore-Belisha attempted to address these problems, and the wider problems of the British Army. The process of allocating men would remain ad hoc at the start of the war. The army would be without the quotas of men required from skilled professions and trades, which modern warfare demanded. With
10620-431: The Enigma code that same year, an important factor was the stronger British Army. This included better equipment, leadership, training, better military intelligence and mass conscription that allowed the army to expand to form larger armies and army groups , as well as create new specialist formations such as the Special Air Service (SAS), Special Boat Service (SBS), Commandos and the Parachute Regiment . During
10797-419: The German Afrika Korps under command of General Erwin Rommel counterattacked in April 1941, the LRDG was ordered to reinforce the Kufra area. 'R' Patrol were based at Taiserbo , 'S' Patrol at Zighen , and the headquarters LRDG, 'T' Patrol, and the Free French were at Kufra, under command of Bagnold. The detached 'G' and 'Y' Patrols were based at Siwa Oasis , under command of XIII Corps . The LRDG air link
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#173277289450910974-425: The German Fallschirmjäger , Winston Churchill called for the formation of a similar elite corps of troops. The Parachute Regiment was created and by the end of the war it possessed 17 battalions. Their first action was the Bruneval Raid in 1942. The Parachute battalions formed the core of the 1st and 6th airborne divisions and the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade . In 1945, they also supplied battalions for
11151-414: The German Wespe and Hummel against the Allied Bishop , Deacon , Priest and Sexton. For the infantry the German MP 38/40 submachine gun took the British by surprise, and the army issued an urgent requirement for its own submachine gun. The Thompson submachine gun was effective, but heavy, and initially hard to obtain because of its American patent. The crude but simple to manufacture Sten gun
11328-427: The Governor for royal assent . However, no royal assent was granted to the Bill. Section 3 of the Southern Rhodesia (Annexation) Order 1923 provided that Southern Rhodesia "shall be known as the Colony of Southern Rhodesia" and the Southern Rhodesia (Constitution) Act 1961 and the Order-in-Council which followed it both referred to it as such. The country's name had been agreed previously by both Southern Rhodesia and
11505-402: The Home Guard, which also provided a cover for their existence. In addition, the Special Duties Section was recruited to provide an intelligence gathering service, spying on enemy formations and troop movements. Reports were to be collected from dead letter drops and relayed by radio operators of the Royal Corps of Signals from secret locations. The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) was
11682-420: The LRDG changed roles and moved operations to the eastern Mediterranean , carrying out missions in the Greek islands , Italy and the Balkans . After the end of the war in Europe, the leaders of the LRDG made a request to the War Office for the unit to be transferred to the Far East to conduct operations against the Japanese Empire . The request was declined and the LRDG was disbanded in August 1945. Before
11859-527: The LRDG was equipped with surplus Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft guns, which were acquired for their high rate of fire . The most widely used of these was the Vickers K machine gun , which was sometimes used mounted in pairs. From mid-1941 the LRDG acquired .303 Browning Mk II's from RAF stocks, also mounted in pairs, with a combined rate of fire of 2,400 rounds per minute. When new vehicles were issued in March 1942, several were converted to carry captured dual-purpose 20 mm Breda Model 35s , which replaced
12036-509: The LRDG was re-organised into two squadrons : the New Zealand and Rhodesian 'A' Squadron with 'S', 'T' and 'R' Patrols, and 'B' Squadron with 'G', 'H' and 'Y' Patrols. There was also a Headquarters Section along with signals , survey and light repair sections. A Heavy section, initially equipped with four 6-ton Marmon-Herrington trucks, was used to provide logistical support by transporting supplies to bases and setting up hidden replenishment points at pre-arranged locations. In addition, there
12213-409: The LRDG were experts in desert navigation, they were sometimes assigned to guide other units, including the Special Air Service and secret agents across the desert. During the Desert Campaign between December 1940 and April 1943, the vehicles of the LRDG operated constantly behind the Axis lines, missing a total of only 15 days during the entire period. Possibly their most notable offensive action
12390-419: The LRDG were unveiled. One of the LRDG's Chevrolet WB trucks is displayed in the Imperial War Museum in London. It was presented to the museum by the LRDG Association, after being recovered from the Libyan desert in 1983 by David Lloyd Owen, by then a retired Major General and chairman of the Association. It is preserved in the condition in which it was discovered, rusted but largely intact. As of 2022, there
12567-417: The Libyan desert. Bagnold felt that New Zealand farmers would possess these attributes and was given permission to approach the 2nd New Zealand Division for volunteers; over half the division volunteered. Two officers and 85 other ranks including 18 administrative and technical personnel were eventually selected, coming mostly from the Divisional Cavalry Regiment and the 27th Machine-Gun Battalion . Once
12744-679: The Mobility troops of the Special Air Service. Each of the regular army Special Air Service squadrons has a Mobility troop. Like the LRDG, they are specialists in using vehicles, trained in an advanced level of motor mechanics to fix any problem with their vehicles, and are experts in desert warfare. The Long Range Desert Group is one of the Second World War units represented by the Special Air Service Association. Other wartime units represented include all
12921-601: The New Zealanders were joined by volunteers from British and Southern Rhodesian regiments. The British volunteers, who came mostly from the Brigade of Guards and Yeomanry regiments, were incorporated into their own patrols. The original patrol unit consisted of two officers and 28 other ranks, equipped with a Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) Ford 15 Imperial hundredweight (cwt) truck and ten Chevrolet 30 cwt trucks. In March 1941 new types of trucks were issued and
13098-552: The RAF to build a fighter aircraft force. The army's shortage of funds, and no requirement for large armoured forces to police the Empire, was reflected in the fact that no large-scale armoured formations were formed until 1938. The effectiveness of the British Army was also hampered by the doctrine of casualty avoidance. Alan Brooke the CIGS from November 1941 complained several times in
13275-610: The Rhodesian Squadron. Patrols were then parachuted north of Rome to obtain information about German troop movements, and also carried out raids on the Dalmatian Islands and Corfu . In August 1944, British Squadron patrols were parachuted into Yugoslavia . One patrol destroyed two 40 feet (12 m) spans of a large railway bridge, which caused widespread disruption to the movement of German troops and supplies. The commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Owen and
13452-1009: The SAS regiments, the Special Raiding Squadron, the Special Boat Service (Wartime), the Phantom Signal Squadron , the Raiding Support Regiment and the Greek Sacred Squadron . The New Zealand Army erected a permanent memorial to the LRDG at the New Zealand Special Air Service barracks, in the Papakura Military Camp . On 7 August 2009, two honour boards containing details of every New Zealand soldier who served in
13629-663: The Southern Rhodesian government would officially become known as the Rhodesian Government and the colony would become known as Rhodesia. On 23 October of that year, the Minister of Internal Affairs notified the press that the Constitution would be amended to make this official. The Legislative Assembly then passed an Interpretation Bill to declare that the colony could be referred to as Rhodesia. The Bill received its third reading on 9 December 1964, and passed to
13806-416: The Southern Rhodesians. Accordingly, Britain granted independence to Northern Rhodesia on 24 October 1964. However, when the new nationalists changed its name to Zambia and began tentatively at first and later in rapid march an Africanisation campaign, Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony, resisting attempts to bring in majority rule. The colony attempted to change its name to Rhodesia although this
13983-744: The United Kingdom, and it was therefore outside the powers of Southern Rhodesian institutions to amend them unilaterally. Notwithstanding the Governor's lack of assent to the Interpretation Bill the United Kingdom's Colonial Office was, by 1965, officially using the name "Rhodesia" in British Government-issued Gazettes of the period (for instance see: The 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours of 12 June 1965). The Rhodesian government, which had begun using
14160-468: The United States. The Home Guard was stood down on 3 December 1944 and disbanded on 31 December 1945. The British tank force consisted of the slow and heavily armed infantry tank , together with the faster and lighter cruiser tank. The cruiser tanks were intended to operate independently of the slow-moving infantry and their heavier infantry tanks. The British doctrine at the time did not foresee
14337-773: The Universities of London and Birmingham. In 1971 UCR became the University of Rhodesia and began awarding its own degrees. In 1980 it was renamed the University of Zimbabwe . In 1953, with calls for independence mounting in many of its African possessions, the United Kingdom created the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (or the Central African Federation , CAF), which consisted of Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland (now Zimbabwe , Zambia , and Malawi , respectively). The idea
14514-551: The War Office to regular Army Headquarters throughout Britain explaining the status of LDV units. Volunteers would be divided into sections, platoons and companies but would not be paid and leaders of units would not hold commissions or have the power to command regular forces. The issue of weapons to LDV and then Home Guard units was solved when emergency orders were placed for First World War vintage Ross Rifles from Canada and Pattern 1914 Enfield and M1917 Enfield rifles from
14691-480: The Windom system was that it took time to erect and work out the correct antenna length, so it could only be used in a relatively safe area. To power the No. 11 set extra batteries had to be carried by the radio vehicles. The Philips receiver was used to monitor Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) time checks, which was vital for desert navigation . While on the move the lead vehicles of the patrol commanders and sergeants flew
14868-507: The Zambezi was the subject of separate treaties with African chiefs: today, it forms the country of Zambia . The first BSAC Administrator for the western part was appointed for Barotseland in 1897 and for the whole of North-Western Rhodesia in 1900. The first BSAC Administrator for the eastern part, North-Eastern Rhodesia , was appointed in 1895. The whites in the territory south of the river paid it scant regard though, and generally used
15045-505: The airfield and 'G1' the Barce barracks. The attack on the airfield destroyed 35 aircraft according to an Italian prisoner of war . Official Italian figures quote 16 aircraft destroyed and seven damaged. On 30 September 1942, the LRDG ceased to be under command of the Eighth Army and came under direct command of GHQ Middle East. The final LRDG operation in North Africa was in Tunisia during
15222-404: The amount of land required to own a share in the company or where in trades supporting the company as workers, successive activism resulted in first increasing the proportion of elected seats, and eventually allowing non-share holders the right to vote in the election. Prior to about 1918, the opinion among the electorate supported continued BSAC rule but opinion changed because of the development of
15399-513: The area. The daytime temperatures could reach 60 °C (140 °F) and at night drop below freezing. The only water in the area is found in a number of small oases , which is also where the only vegetation grows. While the vast majority of Eighth Army operated along the coast, the LRDG started operations inland south of the Great Sand Sea , were later based there and operated west and north, and were later based further west, well south of
15576-451: The armoured division having a role in its own right and was assigned the traditional cavalry role. They would then deploy independent tank brigades equipped with the infantry tanks to operate with the infantry. German panzer and light divisions were equipped with the latest Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, which could outgun all British tanks. By 1942, American Grant and Lend-Lease Sherman tanks entered British service. These tanks, with
15753-490: The army suffered from a lack of funding. The Royal Navy , being the first line of defence, received the major proportion of the defence budget. Second priority was the creation of a bomber force for the Royal Air Force (RAF) to retaliate against the expected attacks on British cities. The development of radar in 1935, which had the ability to track enemy aircraft, resulted in additional funding being provided for
15930-428: The artillery divisions as crews for the guns, searchlights and barrage balloons. One notable ATS member was No. 230873 Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor , who trained as a driver and mechanic, drove a military lorry, and rose to the rank of Junior Commander. She was the last serving head of state who served in uniform during the Second World War. The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) was formed in May 1940 and renamed
16107-423: The battalion Headquarters (HQ), HQ company (signals and administration platoons), four rifle companies (HQ and three rifle platoons), a support company with a carrier platoon , mortar platoon , anti tank platoon and pioneer platoon. The rifle platoon had a HQ, which included a 2-inch mortar and an anti tank weapon team, and three rifle sections, each containing seven riflemen and a three-man Bren gun team. At
16284-505: The battle. The Italian losses were five killed and three wounded, and one truck was abandoned. Four members of the LRDG escaped by walking 200 miles (320 km) to safety in ten days with no food and only a two gallon water can between them. The patrol arrived back in Egypt on 9 February; it had covered about 4,500 miles (7,200 km), experiencing the loss of six trucks, four by enemy action and two by mechanical breakdowns. One vehicle with
16461-479: The battlefield. The army had been equipped and trained to win quick victories using superior mechanised mobility and technology rather than manpower. It also adopted a conservative tendency to consolidate gains on the battlefield rather than aggressively exploiting successes. However, with the lack of any identified threat, the Army's main function was to garrison the British Empire. During this time,
16638-562: 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,
16815-580: The campaign in France and Belgium in the spring, it was realised that there were insufficient infantry and support units, and mixing light and cruiser tanks in the same brigade had been a mistake. The armoured divisions' organisation was changed so that each armoured brigade now incorporated a motorised infantry battalion, and a third battalion was present within the Support Group. In the winter of 1940–41, new armoured regiments were formed by converting
16992-711: The coast. The first LRP patrol began during the Italian invasion of Egypt . 'W' Patrol commanded by Captain Mitford set out on 15 September 1940 to carry out a reconnaissance of Kufra and Uweinat . Finding no trace of the Italians, they turned south and attacked fuel dumps, aircraft and an Italian convoy carrying supplies to Kufra. 'T' Patrol, commanded by Captain Clayton, reconnoitred the main route between Kufra and Uweinat, then drove south to meet up with 'W' Patrol; both units returned to base, having captured two Italian trucks and official mail. The Italian response to these raids
17169-746: The colony's formal name in United Kingdom constitutional theory: for example, the Act passed by the United Kingdom Parliament declaring the independence a legal nullity was entitled the Southern Rhodesia Act 1965 . Following the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement , the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Southern Rhodesia Constitution (Interim Provisions) Order 1979, establishing
17346-567: The commander, while the rest of the patrol used up to 10 Chevrolet 30 cwt 158.5" wheelbase (WB) trucks (the 'WA' model mentioned in some texts appears to be an 133" wheelbase version of the same vehicle). From March 1941 the 30 cwt Chevrolets were replaced by the CMP Ford 30 cwt F30, although in some ways this was a retrograde step as the four wheel drive and extra weight compared to the Chevrolets meant they used twice as much fuel, which reduced
17523-477: The country and increased settlement. In addition, a decision in the British courts that land not in private ownership belonged to the British Crown rather than the BSAC gave great impetus to the campaign for self-government. In the resulting treaty government self-government, Crown lands which were sold to settlers allowed those settlers the right to vote in the self-governing colony. The territory north of
17700-460: The course of the war, eight men would be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal , the army's highest rank. By the end of the Second World War in September 1945, over 3.5 million men and women had served in the British Army, which had suffered around 720,000 casualties throughout the conflict. The British Army was called on to fight around the world, starting with campaigns in Europe in 1940. After
17877-592: The demand of the moment and without any effort at personal selection by proper tests." Only with the creation of the Beveridge committee in 1941, and their subsequent findings in 1942, would the situation of skilled men not being assigned correctly be addressed. The findings led directly to the creation of the General Service Corps that remains in place today. During the war, the British Army raised 43 infantry divisions. Not all of these existed at
18054-548: The earlier entries in his private diary about the lack of suitable officers for command positions, which he puts down to high losses in the First World War At the outbreak of the Second World War, only two armoured divisions (the 1st and 7th ) had been formed, in comparison to the seven armoured divisions of the German Army. In September 1939, the British Army had a total of 892,697 officers and men in both
18231-401: The end of 1939 the British Army's size had risen to 1.1 million men. By June 1940 it stood at 1.65 million men and had further increased to 2.2 million men by June 1941. The size of the British Army peaked in June 1945, at 2.9 million men. By the end of the Second World War some three million people had served. In 1944, the United Kingdom was facing severe manpower shortages. By May 1944, it
18408-487: The eve of war. The regular army was built around 30 cavalry or armoured regiments and 140 infantry battalions. The Territorial Army numbered 438,100, with a reserve of around 20,750 men. This force comprised 29 yeomanry regiments (eight of which were still to be fully mechanized), 12 tank and 232 infantry battalions. In May 1939 the Military Training Act 1939 introduced limited conscription to meet
18585-467: The event of enemy action, patrol movements were controlled by a simple semaphore flag system using blue and white signal flags, or hand signals, depending on how widely dispersed the trucks were. All trucks of the LRDG were equipped with the Bagnold sun compass and some trucks were also equipped with a P8 Tank Compass . Each patrol had a navigator who always rode in the second truck in the formation. He
18762-586: The extermination of nearly half the British settlers. After months of bloodshed, Mlimo was found and shot by the American scout Frederick Russell Burnham and soon thereafter Rhodes walked unarmed into the Ndebele stronghold in Matobo Hills and persuaded the impi to lay down their arms, effectively ending the revolt. A legislative council was created in 1899 to manage the company's civil affairs, with
18939-667: The fort remained in Italian hands, but the adjoining airfield had been destroyed. The units then withdrew southwards towards the Free French post at Zouar . On 31 January they were intercepted by the Compagnia Autosahariana di Cufra , an Italian unit similar to the LRDG, in the Gebel Sherif valley. The LRDG had one man killed and three men captured, including Major Clayton, and three trucks destroyed during
19116-466: The full regiment, or even the entire field artillery of a division if required. The artillery's organisation became very flexible and effective at rapidly providing and switching fire. The medium artillery relied on the First World War vintage guns until the arrival, in 1941, of the 4.5-inch Medium gun , which had a range of 20,500 yards (18,700 m) for a 55 pounds (25 kg) shell. This
19293-417: The full-time regular army and part-time Territorial Army (TA). The regular army could muster 224,000 men, who were supported by a reserve of 173,700 men. Of the regular army reservists, only 3,700 men were fully trained and the remainder had been in civilian life for up to 13 years. In April 1939, an additional 34,500 men had been conscripted into the regular army and had only completed their basic training on
19470-529: The growing threat of Germany . The Act required all men aged between 20 and 22 years to do six months of military training. When the UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939 was rushed through Parliament that required all fit men between the ages of 18 and 41 years to register for training (except for those in exempted industries and occupations). By
19647-488: The heavily armoured Tiger and Panther tanks at a maximum range of 1 mile (1.6 km). The other British artillery guns in 1939 were the 6-inch howitzer left over from the First World War, and the 25-pounder. In the evacuation from France, the artillery left behind 1,000 field and 600 anti-tank guns. Much of what was lost was obsolete and the re-equipment programme produced the mass of artillery that proved decisive from 1942 onwards. Self propelled artillery guns used were
19824-571: The highest loss ratio of any constituent element, colony, dependency or dominion of the British Empire forces during World War II. Additionally, the Rhodesian pilots earned the highest number of decorations and ace appellations of any group within the Empire. This resulted in the Royal Family paying an unusual state visit to the colony at the end of the war to thank the Rhodesian people. Economically, Southern Rhodesia developed an economy that
20001-712: The invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland in 1943. In 1944 the British Army returned to France and with its Allies drove the German Army back into Germany. Meanwhile, in East Asia the Japanese Army were driven back by the Allies from the Indian border into eastern Burma. In 1945 both the German and Japanese Armies were defeated and surrendered within months of each other. High losses had been sustained by
20178-528: The later part of the war, belonged to the prestigious Royal Horse Artillery , but were organised similarly to those of the RA.) The main field artillery weapon throughout the war was the 25-pounder, with a range of 13,400 yards (12,300 m) for the Mk II model, Employed in a direct fire role it was also the most effective anti–tank weapon until the 6-Pounder anti–tank gun became available. One shortcoming of using
20355-459: The low proportion of British and other white citizens in relation to the larger black populations. Additionally, by incorporating the tribes within the Federation as potential citizens, the Federation created the paradoxical situation of having a white elite owning most of the land and capital, whilst being completely dependent upon cheap black labour. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
20532-414: The men had been recruited, they started training in desert survival techniques and desert driving and navigation, with additional training in radio communications and demolitions. The LRP could initially form only three units, known as patrols, but a doubling of strength allowed the addition of a new Heavy Section. In November 1940, the name of the LRP was changed to the "Long Range Desert Group" (LRDG), and
20709-506: 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
20886-485: The name "Rhodesia" in a narrow sense to mean their part. The designation "Southern Rhodesia" was first used officially in 1898 in the Southern Rhodesia Order in Council of 20 October 1898, which applied to the area south of the Zambezi, and was more common after the BSAC merged the administration of the two northern territories as Northern Rhodesia in 1911. As a result of the various treaties between
21063-622: The name of the country until the creation of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979. Legally, from the British perspective, the name Southern Rhodesia continued to be used until 18 April 1980, when the Republic of Zimbabwe was promulgated. The British government agreed that Rhodes' company, the British South Africa Company (BSAC), would administer the territory stretching from the Limpopo to Lake Tanganyika under charter as
21240-403: The new name anyway, did not press the issue. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence , adopted on 11 November 1965, was in the name of "Rhodesia", which remained unchanged by the declaration of a republic in 1970, the title of the republican constitution of 1969, like the constitution before it, being "Constitution of Rhodesia". While the new name was widely used, 'Southern Rhodesia' remained
21417-605: The offices of Governor and Deputy Governor of Southern Rhodesia, filled by Lord Soames and Sir Antony Duff respectively. The new Governor arrived in Salisbury on 12 December 1979, and on that day the Parliament of Zimbabwe Rhodesia handed power over to him by passing the Constitution of Zimbabwe Rhodesia (Amendment) (No. 4) Act, declaring that "Zimbabwe Rhodesia shall cease to be an independent State and become part of Her Majesty's dominions". After elections in February 1980,
21594-466: The overall building of infrastructure than the other two members did. Southern Rhodesia, recognising an inevitable dissolution of the Federation, was quick to use federal funds in building its infrastructure ahead of the others. A key component of this was the building of the Kariba Dam and its hydroelectric facility (shafts, control centre, etc.), which was situated on the Southern Rhodesian side of
21771-489: The overall structure remained substantially the same throughout the war. A 1944 division typically was made up of three infantry brigades; a Medium Machine Gun (MMG) battalion (with 36 Vickers machine guns , in three companies, and one company of 16 4.2-inch mortars ); a reconnaissance regiment; a divisional artillery group, which consisted of three motorised field artillery regiments each with twenty-four 25-pounder guns, an anti-tank regiment with forty-eight anti-tank guns and
21948-716: The patrol units were split into half-patrols of one officer and 15–18 men in five or six vehicles. Each patrol incorporated a medical orderly , a navigator , a radio operator and a vehicle mechanic , each of whom manned a truck equipped for their role. The Long Range Patrol comprised a 15-man headquarters with Bagnold in command. There were three sub-units: 'R' Patrol commanded by Captain Donald Gavin Steele, 'T' Patrol commanded by Captain Patrick Clayton and 'W' Patrol commanded by Captain Edward 'Teddy' Cecil Mitford . 'T' and 'W' Patrols were combat units while 'R' Patrol
22125-508: The range of a patrol. From March 1942 the Fords were progressively replaced by 200 Canadian Chevrolet 1533 X2 30 cwts, which had been specially ordered for the LRDG. From July 1942 Willys jeeps began to be issued for the patrol commander and patrol sergeant . The patrol vehicles were initially armed with 11 Lewis machine guns , four Boys anti-tank rifles and a Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun distributed amongst their vehicles. By December 1940,
22302-416: The range of the German 3.7 cm PaK 36 . After its introduction in May 1942 the more powerful 6-pounder replaced the 2-pounder during the second part of the war. Its small size and light weight provided excellent mobility and at the same time it was also capable of defeating most German tanks. But only with the development of the 17-pounder anti-tank gun in 1943, did the artillery have the ability to knock out
22479-490: The remaining mounted cavalry and yeomanry regiments. A year later, 33 infantry battalions were also converted to armoured regiments. By the Second Battle of El Alamein , in late 1942, the British Army had realised that an entire infantry brigade was needed within each division, but until mid 1944, the idea that the armoured and motorised infantry brigades should fight separate albeit coordinated battles persisted. By
22656-595: The rest of the convoy. After the end of the war in Europe, the leaders of the LRDG made a request to the War Office for the unit to be transferred to the Far East to conduct operations against the Japanese Empire . The request was declined and the LRDG was disbanded in August 1945. The Long Range Desert Group was disbanded at the end of the Second World War. The only comparable British Army units today are
22833-495: The rivers Zambezi and Limpopo , its other boundaries being (more or less) arbitrary, and merging imperceptibly with the peoples and domains of earlier chiefdoms of pre-colonial times. The British colony was established de jure in 1923, having earlier been occupied, constructed and administered by the British South Africa Company and its sub-concessionaires who were mostly British subjects. In 1953, it
23010-541: The road and the trucks would be camouflaged using camouflage nets, any local foliage and sand. Before dawn each day two men would move into a well camouflaged position about 350 yards (320 m) from the road. By day they would record the details of all vehicles and troop movements, and at night they would move to about 30 yards (27 m) from the road and guess what type of vehicles were passing by their sound and outline. At daylight they were relieved by another pair of men who took over that day's road watch. If tanks or
23187-415: The rows of aircraft, which were then engaged by machine guns and hand grenades. Prior to this the procedure had been to quietly infiltrate an airfield and place Lewes bombs on aircraft and vehicles, leaving before the bombs exploded, but this attack was so successful that it became the preferred method for attacking airfields. When the LRDG was based at Siwa, they took part in what has since become known as
23364-612: The same time, and several were formed purely as training or administrative formations. Eight regular army divisions existed at the start of the war or were formed immediately afterwards from garrisons in the Middle East. The Territorial Army had 12 "first line" divisions (which had existed, generally, since the raising of the Territorial Force in the early 1900s), and raised a further 12 "second line" divisions from small cadres. Five other infantry divisions were created during
23541-538: The soldiers themselves, would never again allow them to recklessly throw away lives. The British Army had analysed the lessons of the First World War and developed them into an inter-war doctrine , at the same time trying to predict how advances in weapons and technology might affect any future war. Developments were constrained by the Treasury . In 1919, the Ten Year Rule was introduced, which stipulated that
23718-418: The south-south-east of Ajdabiya. The last operations of 1941 were in December, when the LRDG twice ferried the SAS to and from raids on Axis airfields, attacking the airfields at Sirte (twice), El Agheila , Ajdabiya, Nofaliya and Tamit , and destroying 151 aircraft and 30 vehicles. During the second raid at Sirte, the SAS devised a new method of attacking parked aircraft. They drove the LRDG trucks between
23895-649: The standard German rifle of the war, the Karabiner 98k ; later German rifles included the Semi-automatic rifles Gewehr 41 , Gewehr 43 and the first assault rifle , the StG 44 . Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked, self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa , established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of
24072-409: The start of the war, the British Army possessed only two armoured divisions: the Mobile Division, formed in Britain in October 1937, and the Mobile Division (Egypt), formed in the autumn of 1938 following the Munich Crisis , These two divisions were later redesignated the 1st Armoured Division, in April 1939, and 7th Armoured Division, in January 1940, respectively. During the war, the army raised
24249-449: The use of 6-foot (1.8 m) or 9-foot (2.7 m) antennas . The LRDG used Morse code for all transmissions, and were able to transmit over great distances using either a dipole antenna system attached to a 6.3 feet (1.9 m) rod antenna mounted on the truck, which was adequate up to 500 miles (800 km), or for greater distances, a Windom dipole system slung between two 17 feet (5.2 m) tall poles. The disadvantage of using
24426-504: The usual assortment of engineers, mechanics, signals, transport, medical, and other support services. The armoured reconnaissance regiment was equipped with medium tanks, bringing the armoured divisions to a strength of 246 medium tanks (roughly 340 tanks in total) and by the end of the Battle of Normandy the divisions started to operate as two brigade groups, each of two combined arms teams, each in turn of one tank regiment and one infantry battalion (The armoured reconnaissance regiment
24603-524: The vehicle armaments had been improved and 'T' Patrol, for example, had five .303 Vickers Medium Mk. I machine guns, five Lewis guns, four Boys anti-tank guns and the Bofors 37 mm. Another Vickers gun used was the heavy Vickers .50 machine gun , which would be mounted at the rear of the vehicle. All of the unit's vehicles were armed with at least one gun; each vehicle was fitted with six to eight gun mountings, but normally only two or three of them would be in use. Supplementing their army-supplied weapons,
24780-407: The war were the ten Independent Companies , which were raised from volunteers from Second-Line TA divisions. They were intended for raiding and reconnaissance behind German lines in the Norwegian Campaign , but were disbanded after the campaign was abandoned. The remaining personnel carried out Operation Collar against German-occupied France, before being merged into the Commandos. Later in 1940,
24957-413: The war, Major Ralph Bagnold learned how to maintain and operate vehicles, how to navigate, and how to communicate in the desert. On 23 June 1940 he met General Archibald Wavell , the commander of Middle East Command in Alexandria and explained his concept for a group of men intended to undertake long-range reconnaissance patrols to gather intelligence behind the Italian lines in Libya . General Wavell
25134-412: The war, either converted from static "county" divisions or specially raised for Operation Torch or the Burma Campaign. The 1939 infantry division had a theoretical establishment of 13,863 men. By 1944, the strength had risen to 18,347 men. This increase in manpower resulted mainly from the increased establishment of a division's subunits and formations; except for certain specialist supporting services,
25311-404: The war. In 1937, the Mobile Division had two cavalry brigades each with three light tank regiments (note: a British cavalry or armoured 'regiment' is the equivalent of a US battalion in size), a tank brigade with three medium tank regiments, and a "Pivot Group" (later called the "Support Group") containing two motorised infantry battalions and two artillery regiments. The Mobile Division (Egypt) had
25488-402: The west of Tobruk . Only 21 men arrived at the rendezvous and were returned to the British lines, later becoming the nucleus of the Special Air Service (SAS). One of the other roles assigned to the LRDG was to transport SAS units behind enemy lines; this continued until the SAS were issued with their own transport in 1942. In early November 'T2' Patrol took four British officers to the Gebel and
25665-441: The women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in September 1938, enlistment was open to women aged 18 upwards who could enlist for general or local service (Local service they served in their own local area, General service they could be sent where they were needed and could be anywhere in the country). The ATS served in non-combat roles as cooks, clerks and storewoman. Large numbers of ATS also served with
25842-540: Was about 6 million. In the 1940s, the founding of a university to serve central African countries was proposed. Such a university was eventually established in Salisbury , with funding provided by the British and Southern Rhodesian governments and some private sources. One condition of British funding was that student admission should be based on "academic achievement and good character" with no racial distinction. University College of Rhodesia (UCR) received its first intake of students in 1952. Until 1971 it awarded degrees of
26019-408: Was accepted and between 1941 and 1945, some 3,750,000 were produced. The British Bren light machine gun with a rate of fire of 500 rounds a minute and 30 round magazine , came up against the German MG 42 which had a rate of fire of 1,500 rounds per minute and ammunition belts of 200 rounds. The standard British rifle was the bolt action Lee–Enfield Rifle, No. 4 Mk I that was comparable to
26196-401: Was also tasked with missions behind the lines to gather intelligence, blow up installations and ambush small patrols. The Special Interrogation Group was a unit formed from anti- Nazi Germans and Palestinian Jews of German origin under British officers, they wore German equipment, spoke German and lived everyday life as members of the Africa Corps . The Special Boat Service was formed from
26373-428: Was an Air Section of two biplanes, a Waco ZGC-7 and a Waco YKC , that transported key personnel, evacuated wounded and performed other liaison tasks. In August 1941 an artillery unit was formed to attack Italian forts more effectively. Initially it used a QF 4.5-inch howitzer carried on a 10-ton Mack NR 4 truck, with an accompanying light tank as an armoured observation post . However, these were handed over to
26550-407: Was briefly attached to the LRDG beginning in December 1942. The vehicles of each patrol adopted their own markings. The New Zealand 'R' Patrol used a green Hei-tiki with a red tongue painted on the right side of the bonnet of the vehicle, and on the left a Māori place name beginning with the letter 'R' (for example, ' Rotowaro '). The 'T' Patrol vehicles had a black Kiwi over green 'grass' and
26727-411: Was changed late in 1940 to three batteries each of eight guns. Perhaps the most important element of a battery was the Forward Observation Officer (FOO), who directed fire. Unlike most armies of the period, in which artillery observers could only request fire support, a British Army FOO (who was supposedly a captain but could even be a subaltern) could demand it, not merely from his own battery, but from
26904-454: Was converted to a Mountain Division, with lighter equipment and transport. Other differences were generally the result of local exigencies. (A "Lower Establishment" existed for divisions stationed in Britain or inactive theatres, which were not intended to take part in active operations.) With all cavalry and armoured regiments committed to armoured formations in the early part of the war, there were no units left for divisional reconnaissance, so
27081-407: Was created during the occupation of Kufra by Major Guy Lenox Prendergast . Appreciating the value of aircraft for reconnaissance, liaison, evacuating wounded and flights to GHQ Cairo, he had two Waco aircraft fitted with long range fuel tanks. Prendergast flew one himself and Sergeant R. F. T. Barker flew the other. When Bagnold was appointed to the General Staff Cairo in August 1941, Prendergast
27258-494: Was dissolved on 1 January 1964. However, it was expected that only Nyasaland would be let go, whilst the remainder of Rhodesia both north and south would be united. Although Northern Rhodesia had a white population of over 100,000, as well as additional British military and civil units and their dependents, most of these were relatively new to the region, were primarily in the extraction business, had little landed interests, and were more amenable to allowing black nationalism than
27435-408: Was during Operation Caravan , an attack on the town of Barce and its associated airfield, on the night of 13 September 1942. However, their most vital role was the 'Road Watch', during which they clandestinely monitored traffic on the main road from Tripoli to Benghazi , transmitting the intelligence to British Army Headquarters. With the surrender of the Axis forces in Tunisia in May 1943,
27612-401: Was equipped with a theodolite and astronomical position tables with which to plot star sightings , and maps. Watches were used and adjusted each evening using the GMT time check . One major problem faced early on by the LRDG was a lack of accurate maps for Libya in particular. Patrols had to do their own surveys and make their own maps of each route they took. In July 1941 the Survey Section
27789-469: Was estimated that the British Army's strength in December 1944 would be 100,000 less than it was at the end of 1943. Although casualties in the Normandy Campaign , the main effort of the British Army in 1944, were actually lower than anticipated, losses from all causes were still higher than could be replaced. Two infantry divisions and a brigade ( 59th and 50th divisions and 70th Brigade ) were disbanded to provide replacements for other British divisions in
27966-472: Was familiar with desert warfare, having been a liaison officer with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force during the First World War , and he understood and endorsed Bagnold's suggested concept. Wavell assisted in equipping the force. The unit, initially known as the No.1 Long Range Patrol Unit (LRP), was founded on 3 July 1940. Bagnold wanted men who were energetic, innovative, self-reliant, physically and mentally tough, and able to live and fight in seclusion in
28143-475: Was followed in 1942 by the 5.5-inch Medium gun , which had a range of 18,600 yards (17,000 m) for an 80 pounds (36 kg) shell. The heavy artillery was equipped with the 7.2-inch Howitzer , a modified First World War weapon that nevertheless remained effective. During the war, brigade–sized formations of artillery, referred to as Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA), were formed. These allowed control of medium and heavy artillery to be centralised. Each AGRA
28320-446: Was formed to carry out this task. The LRDG area of operations between 1940 and 1943, known as the Western Desert , stretched about 930 miles (1,500 km) south from the Mediterranean to the Tibesti and the Jebel Uweinat mountains, and about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) from the Nile valley in the east to the mountains of Tunisia and Algeria in the west. Paved roads were non-existent and only small tracks and pathways crossed
28497-552: Was given command of the LRDG. The LRDG now began a series of patrols behind the Axis lines. Near the end of July 'T' Patrol left for the desert to the south of the Gulf of Sirte . One 'T' Patrol truck managed to observe the main coastal road, along which Axis traffic was passing. They were followed two or three weeks later by 'S' Patrol, who carried out a similar reconnaissance between Jalo oasis and Agedabia . Both patrols returned safely to Kufra without being discovered. In August 1941 'R' Patrol relieved 'G' and 'Y' Patrols at Siwa and
28674-437: Was in force unless specifically countermanded (Cabinet abandoned the rule in 1932) In the 1920s, and much of the 1930s, the General Staff tried to establish a small mechanized professional army, using the Experimental Mechanized Force as a prototype. The structure of the British Army had been organized to sacrifice firepower for mobility and removed from its commanders the fire support weapons that were needed to advance over
28851-439: Was intended to be a support unit. In November 1940, the LRP was reorganised and re-designated as the Long Range Desert Group. It was expanded to six Patrols: 'T', 'W' and 'R' Patrols were joined by 'G', 'S' and 'Y' Patrols. Each patrol was expected to belong to the same regimental group, but only the Brigade of Guards and the Yeomanry regiments formed their own Patrols, 'G' and 'Y' respectively. The men of 'G' Patrol were drawn from
29028-422: Was joined by 'T' Patrol in October. In November 1941 the LRDG, now under command of the newly formed Eighth Army , moved from Kufra to Siwa (central Libya). The patrols were given the task of watching the desert tracks south of Jebel Akhdar and report any signs of reinforcements and withdrawals. 'R1' Patrol was to pick up Captain David Stirling and 30 men who had parachuted behind the lines to raid airfields to
29205-427: Was killed and replaced by David Lloyd Owen . After the battle the last New Zealanders, two officers and approximately 46 men, were withdrawn from the LRDG and returned to their division. In December 1943, the LRDG re-organised into two squadrons of eight patrols. Each patrol contained one officer and 10 other ranks. Major Moir Stormonth Darling was given command of the British Squadron and Major Kenneth Henry Lazarus
29382-462: Was matched with the armoured brigade's motor battalion to provide the fourth group). In 1944, the division's armoured regiments comprised 78 tanks. The regimental headquarters was equipped with four medium tanks, an anti–aircraft troop with eight Crusader Anti–Aircraft tanks , and the regiment's reconnaissance troop with eleven Stuart tanks . Each regiment also had three Sabre squadrons ; generally comprising four troops each of four tanks, and
29559-510: Was merged into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland , which lasted until 1963. Southern Rhodesia was renamed Rhodesia and remained a de jure British colony until 1980. However, the Rhodesian government issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 and established a fully independent Rhodesia , which immediately became an unrecognised state . In 1979, it reconstituted itself under majority rule as Zimbabwe Rhodesia , which also failed to win international recognition. After
29736-427: Was narrowly based on production of a few primary products, notably, chrome and tobacco. It was therefore vulnerable to the economic cycle. The deep recession of the 1930s gave way to a post-war boom. This boom prompted the immigration of about 200,000 white settlers between 1945 and 1970, taking the white population up to 307,000. A large number of these immigrants were of British working-class origin. The black population
29913-478: Was needed to complete an objective. However, it was intended before the war that the division was the lowest formation at which support (particularly artillery fire) could be properly concentrated and coordinated. Lieutenant-General Montgomery reimposed and reinforced this principle when he assumed command of the Eighth Army in North Africa in 1942, halting a tendency to split divisions into uncoordinated brigades and "penny packets". The infantry battalion consisted of
30090-492: Was normally allocated to provide support to a corps, but could be assigned as needed by an Army HQ. Although infantry units each had an anti-tank platoon, divisions also had a Royal Artillery anti-tank regiment. This had four batteries, each of twelve guns. At the start of the war, they were equipped with the 2-pounder . Although this was perhaps the most effective weapon of its type at the time, it soon became obsolete as tanks became heavier with thicker armour. Its replacement,
30267-476: Was not recognised by the United Kingdom. The majority of the Federation's military and financial assets went to Southern Rhodesia, since the British Government did not wish to see them fall into the hands of the nationalist leaders, and since Southern Rhodesia had borne the major expenses of running the Federation. With regard to the latter, however, Northern Rhodesia was the wealthiest of the three member states (due to its vast copper mines) and had contributed more to
30444-457: Was organized along ethnic and religious lines with the first two patrols originally known as 'J' ( Jats ) and 'R' ( Rajput ) Patrols. Their designations were changed to 'I1' and 'I2' to avoid confusion. In October 1942 two further Indian patrols were formed: 'M' ( Muslim ) and 'S' ( Sikh ) Patrols, which became the 'I3' and 'I4' Patrols. No. 1 Demolition Squadron , nicknamed "Popski's Private Army" and commanded by Major Vladimir 'Popski' Peniakoff ,
30621-465: Was succeeded by Howard Unwin Moffat . During World War II , Southern Rhodesian military units participated on the side of the United Kingdom. Southern Rhodesian support for the Allied war effort was based on a mixture shared kinship and identity with Britain and support for democracy. Southern Rhodesian forces were involved on many fronts including the East and North African campaigns , Italy , Madagascar and Burma . Southern Rhodesian forces had
30798-403: Was surrounded by a convoy of 27 vehicles and about 200 men who stopped for the night between the watchers and their vehicles. While the road watch was ongoing, other patrols would be attacking targets along other stretches of the Tripoli to Benghazi road, by planting mines or attacking vehicles with machine gun fire. The road was kept under constant observation from 2 March to 21 July 1942. After
30975-429: Was to reduce their front line forces and increase the number of troops garrisoning the area from 2,900 men in September to 5,500 by November 1940. On 27 December 1940, 'G' and 'T' Patrols left Cairo and crossed the desert to northwest of Kufra. On arrival they met with representatives from the Free French forces in Chad , and on 11 January carried out a joint raid on the Italian fort at Murzuk . After two hours' fighting
31152-430: Was to return and collect them three weeks later. The officers were the advance land party of Operation Flipper , which had planned to kill General Rommel. On 24 November, in support of Operation Crusader , the LRDG were ordered to attack Axis rear areas. Already on patrol, 'Y1' and 'Y2' Patrols attacked targets in the Mechili , Derna and Gazala area. 'Y1' damaged fifteen vehicles in a transport park and 'Y2' captured
31329-426: Was to try to steer a middle road between the differing aspirations of the black nationalists, the colonial administration and the white settler population. The CAF sought to emulate the experience of Australia, Canada and South Africa – wherein groups of colonies had been federated together to form viable independent nations. Originally designed to be "an indissoluble federation", the CAF quickly started to unravel due to
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