Дальнобойная разведывательная группа: организация и вооружение (Dal'noboynaya razvedyvatel'naya gruppa: organizatsiya i vooruzheniye)

Reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army

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), The British volunteers, who came mostly from the Brigade of Guards and Yeomanry regiments, were incorporated into their own patrols.

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 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 '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, By June 1941 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, From July 1942 Willys jeeps began to be issued for the patrol commander and patrol sergeant. 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, 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 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 Short Magazine Lee–Enfield (SMLE) No.1 Mk III* being the primary rifle.#tag:ref|Although some references refer to the No. 4 Mk I, it was not introduced into service until the spring of 1942 and was rarely, if ever, used by the LRDG in the desert. Several types of hand grenade were used: the Mills bomb, No. 68 Anti tank and No. 69's. 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 used are the Lewes bombs, a custom made weapon using Nobel 808, were used to destroy aircraft and other targets, and sticky bombs used to destroy enemy vehicles. Captured German and Italian small arms were utilised including 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 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 mile (5 km) and 20 mile (32 km) with the use of 6 feet (2 m) or 9 feet (3 m) antennas. To power the No. 11 set extra batteries had to be carried by the radio vehicles.#tag:ref|On occasion the Philips was used to listen to BBC radio or music like the song Lili Marleen. 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 the event of enemy action, patrol movements were controlled by a simple semaphore flag system using blue and white signal flags,#tag:ref|Some typical signals were 'Enemy in sight': a flag waved vertically, and 'Disperse': two horizontal flags waved up and down. Each patrol had a navigator who always rode in the second truck in the formation. He 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.

The LRDG area of operations between 1940 and 1943, known as the Western Desert, stretched about 930 mile (1497 km) south from the Mediterranean to the Tibesti and the Jebel Uweinat mountains, and about 1200 mile (1931 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 the area. The daytime temperatures could reach 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. '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 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 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 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 mile (322 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 4500 mile (7242 km), experiencing the loss of six trucks, four by enemy action and two by mechanical breakdowns. One vehicle with a broken rear axle had been towed about 900 mile (1448 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. The LRDG air link 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 was given command of the LRDG. 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 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 mile (225 km) to the south south east of Ajdabiya.

When the LRDG was based at Siwa, they took part in what has since become known as the 'Road Watch' along the Via Balbia (the Tripoli to Benghazi road). The site of the road watch was about 5 mile (8 km) from the Marble Arch monument. The road watch patrol would park about 2 miles away from 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 from the road. By day they would record the details of all vehicles and troop movements, and at night they would move to about 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. 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 was surrounded by a convoy of 27 vehicles and about 200 men who stopped for the night between the watchers and their vehicles. The road was kept under constant observation around the clock from 2 March to 21 July 1942. After 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 the Sudan Defence Force would capture Jalo oasis (Operation Nicety). 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 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 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 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 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 the rest of the convoy.

The Long Range Desert Group was disbanded at the end of the Second World War. The only comparable British Army units today are 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 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 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 is only one surviving member of the group, Jack Mann.

Sea of Sand (1958). Film depicting an L. R. D. G. patrol mission behind enemy lines on the eve of the Second Battle of El Alamein. Play Dirty (1969). Film based in part on the L. R. D. G.'s activities, depicting a behind enemy lines raid upon an Afrika Corps installation. Gli scorpioni del deserto (1969–92). Comic book series by Hugo Pratt and others. Killing Rommel (2008). A historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield depicting the L. R. D. G's activities. Lost in Libya – In Search of the Long Range Desert Group (2009). Television documentary film tracing three L. R. D. G. lorries that were abandoned at Gebel Sherif in Southern Libya in 1941 after the unit's first encounter with its Italian equivalent the Autosahariana. Includes archival film of the L. R. D. G. in action. First aired on ANZAC day, 25 April 2009 on Television New Zealand. SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022). A British television historical drama series. Undaunted: North Africa (2020). A board game about historical battles in North Africa, between the L. R. D. G. and Italy