Long Range Desert Group The Long Range Desert Group ( LRDG ) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War . The commander of the German Afrika Corps , Field Marshal Erwin Rommel , admitted that the LRDG " caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength " . Originally called the Long Range Patrol ( LRP ) , the unit was founded in Egypt in June 1940 by Major Ralph A . Bagnold , acting under the direction of General Archibald Wavell . Bagnold was assisted by Captain Patrick Clayton and Captain William Shaw . At first the majority of the men were from New Zealand , but they were soon joined by 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 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 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 , 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 . Formation . On 23 June 1940 , Major Ralph Bagnold met with General Archibald Wavell , the commander of the Middle East Command in Alexandria . He explained his concept for a group of men intended to undertake long - range reconnaissance patrols behind the Italian lines , into Libya , to gather intelligence . General Wavell 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 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 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 the New Zealanders were joined by volunteers from British and 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 10 Chevrolet 30 cwt trucks . In March 1941 new types of trucks were issued and 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 . 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 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 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 Captain P . J . D . McCraith , with additional men from the 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 the LRDG was re - organised into two squadron s : 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 was an Air Section , using Waco ZGC - 7 and YKC biplanes which 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 the Free French at Kufra . The unit was then issued a 25 pounder portee . After successfully attacking and capturing the El Gtafia fort , the truck had to be abandoned and the experiment ended . Squadrons . 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 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 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 , commanded by Major Vladimir ' Popski ' Peniakoff , was briefly attached to the LRDG from 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 they put a Māori place name beginning with the letter ' R ' ( for example , ' Rotowaro ' ) . The ' T ' Patrol vehicles had a black Kiwi over green ' grass ' and 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 the Three Musketeers books ( for example , ' Aramis ' ) on the left side 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 . Equipment . Vehicles . 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 a bigger radiator , a condenser system , built up leaf spring s 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 CMP Ford 15 cwt F15 truck for the commander , while the rest of the patrol used up to 10 Chevrolet 30 cwt WB trucks . 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 ; because they were four wheel drive and heavier than the Chevrolets , they used twice as much fuel , which in turn reduced 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 . Weapons . The patrol vehicles were initially armed with 11 Lewis machine guns , four Boys anti - tank rifle s and a Bofors 37 mm anti - tank gun distributed amongst their vehicles . By December 1940 , 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 , the LRDG was equipped with surplus Royal Air Force ( RAF ) weapons . 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 35 s , 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 . Other small arms carried were Thompson submachine gun s and . 38 Enfield , Webley & Scott or . 45 Colt 1911A1 pistols . Several types of hand grenade were used : the Mills bomb , No . 68 Anti - tank and No . 69 ' s . Each truck carried a Lee - Enfield EY rifle fitted with a discharger cup able to fire the No . 36M Mills rifle grenade . The LRDG also laid land mine s , the most common being the Mk 2 mine . Lewes bomb s , a custom made weapon using Nobel 808 , were used to destroy aircraft and other targets . 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 . Communications . 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 and with the use of or 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 rod antenna mounted on the truck which was adequate up to , or for greater distances , a Wyndom dipole system slung between two tall poles . The disadvantage of using the Wyndom 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 . While on the move the lead vehicles of the patrol commanders and sergeants flew 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 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 . Navigation . 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 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 was formed to carry out this task . History . The LRDG area of operations between 1940 – 1943 was the Libyan desert , which stretches about south from the Mediterranean to the Tibesti and the Jebel Uweinat mountains , and about 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 . 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 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 Italians losses were five killed and three wounded , and one truck was abandoned . Four members of the LRDG escaped by walking 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 , 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 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 . At the same time the LRDG was expanded with the addition of ' Y ' and ' S ' Patrols . When 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 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 . 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 was joined by ' T ' Patrol in October . Eighth Army command . In November 1941 the LRDG , now under command of the newly formed Eighth Army , moved from Kufra to Siwa . 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 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 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 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 to 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 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 bomb s on aircraft and vehicles , leaving before the bombs exploded , but this attack was so successful that it became the preferred method for attacking airfields . Road watch . When the LRDG was based at Siwa , they took part in what has since became known as 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 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 . If tank s or 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 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 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 . Barce . 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 " ) . 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 to reach their target . On arrival ' T1 ' Patrol attacked 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 Operation " Pugilist " when they guided the 2nd New Zealand Division around the Mareth Line in March 1943 . Post 1943 operations . 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 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 . 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 . Legacy . 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 are 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 .