Desert rats

[ANTHONY]

The LRDG were not the forerunners of the SAS. The LRDG were the brainchild of a guy called Bagnold (I think) who explored the Western Desert prior to the war. Stirlings first parachute landing was a **** up so he teamed up with the LRDG originally to take him places until he scrounged his own transport. There was another desert group called Popski's Private Army which did similar work in N Africa and later Italy. Strangely, New Zealanders and Rhodesians adapted to the the LRDG life better than most.

[ANTHONY]

These threads are tops. To those of you ex squaddies who made Koufra, you've been somewhere not many Brits have been to even in this age of gap years and backpacking. Koufra was apparently ther home of the Italian equivalent of the LRDG and captured by the Free French. (No contest there then) They lost a colonel and a New Zealander. The film Rats of Tobruk starred Welshman Richard Burton who played an English officer commanding Aussie troops. The diggers were a stubborn lot and Rommel allegedly announced that they were 'trapped like rats' so the diggers proudly called themselves the 'rats of tobruk'. Tobruk was also defended at times by S. Africans and Poles but the Australians are best remembered and quite rightly is one of there battle honours. But, even today,if you tell a 21st century digger that your father/grandfather in the British Army was at Tobruk you will be called a bloody liar or something similar and get a punch in the mouth.

[Darren]

Hi

My uncle was in the LRDG and captured at Gazala on 12 December 1941. He was transfered to an Italian POW camp in Umbria and subsequently escaped, lived rough until the second half of 1944 when he was picked up by the allies and eneded up in Bavaria before returning back to Sheff in 1946

[david weston]

If you are a friend or relation of any surviving 'Rats', see if they knew a chap called Astley of Hope village. I only mention this as he and his wife used to have a tea van parked at the road end of Derwent Dam in the late 50's early 60's. It was a green Trojan van and had the Desert Rat logo painted at the back as he had been in the regiment.

[Tinsoldier]

A bit more information about my gt Uncle Dan Desert Rat

 

He was born in Attercliife in 1920 and joined up in 1940

 

Sailed round the cape of Good Hope, up the other side and into Egpt and Libya

 

He served with The Northumberland Hussars

 

He was in Crete (Suda Bay)when the biggest airbourne invasion took place (by the Germans)--Trekked accross Crete and was lucky to be taken off by the Royal Navy and back into the desert fighting in the 102 anti tank division of the 8th Army.

 

Captured at Gazala and taken to a POW camp in Italy Umbria---He then escaped--you cant keep a tough Sheffielder down! and lived rough for 18 months before being sheltered by Italian partisans.

 

I have his medals, POW correspondance handkerchief embroidery from the camp and lots more stuff that he left to me when he died in 1993

 

The story continues but I will save this for another time (including how he escaped)

Darren

[Tinsoldier]

Sorry I neglected to give his full name

 

It was Daniel Simpson and he was born on Coleridge Road Attercliffe Sheffield -went to the old board school on Attercliffe Common

 

Lived on Broughton Road during the 1960's

His best mate was Bill Grayson also an Attercliffe lad

[harvey19]

If you apply to the MOD Historical Records section at Glassgow you can obtain a copy of your fathers service record for £30.

Type sevice record in Google and it will give you details.

When you know your fathers regiment you can purchase a copy of the units war diary for the relevant period from the National Archives.

My father served in Tobruk throughout 1941 in 53 Battery, 51st anti aircraft regiment, Royal Artillery.