#lrdg

[pedroam-bang]

SAS Rogue Heroes (2022)

[sas-irl]

"Members of Y Patrol of the Long Range Desert Group reading mail from home at Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert." (IWM)

[rockyp77mk3]

Member of a Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) patrol poses with a Vickers K machine gun on a Chevrolet 30cwt truck in North Africa - May 1942.  

[withers-sas-dog]

This is going to be a bit of a tangent but the LRDG really do deserve their own series. They were a pain in Rommel's side, they were technically the first model for the hit and raid type special forces. They navigated using stars in the desert and essentially made sure everyone got to where they needed to be. Honestly the idea of a series about them won't stop bouncing around in my head. After their stint in their stint in the desert was over they were shipped to Italy, the Balkans, Greece etc. Just, I would bite HBO or the BBC to make a series about them.

Yes, there was a time when the LRDG was the unit on everyone's lips before the SAS. In 1940, Ralph Bagnold was authorised by GHQ in Cairo to raise a reconnaissance force to discover what exactly the Italians were up to in Libya.

So many exceptional men and exploits that would make a great series.

[therealhistorybehindthedrama]

Historic blue plaque honours achievements of Ralph Alger Bagnold

A new blue plaque has been unveiled today in honour of Ralph Alger Bagnold OBE FRS KL (1896-1990), a Plymouth-born man who became a scientist, explorer and soldier and whose ground breaking research into sand dunes has been recognised by NASA.

Bagnold was born on 3 April 1896. During the First World War he was an engineer in the British Army. He then served in the Second World War as the first commanding officer of the ‘Long Range Desert Group’. The unit carried out dangerous reconnaissance work and raids behind enemy lines in North Africa and is considered to be a forerunner of the SAS.

Historic blue plaque honours achievements of Ralph Alger Bagnold | The Box Plymouth

[all-action-all-picture]

Combat badges of World War ll. Free gift with the first issue of Battle Picture Weekly, 1975.

Treasury of British Comics.

[historicalfirearms]

Fighting On Film: Show & Tell #1 - The Rifleman (2019) & Sea of Sand (1958)

In the UK we’ve gone into another COVID-19 induced lockdown, so why not put out another episode of the Fighting On Film! In this first episode of a new additional format ‘Show & Tell’ we talk about a couple of war movies we watched recently and see if you guys think we should cover them in a full episode. We discuss a new Latvian film 'The Rifleman’ and a British 50’s movie featuring a young Richard Attenborough - 'Sea of Sand/Desert Patrol’. 

Also available on other platforms and apps - find them here.

[hjmarseille]

An LRDG soldier writes home in the days after the Armistice. Many of the men hadn’t seen their homeland for years. (Courtesy of the SAS Regimental Archive)

Photo and caption featured in The Long Range Desert Group in World War II by Gavin Mortimer