X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Long Range Desert Group


Battle of Fada

This tactic mirrored the actions of the raids conducted by the Long Range Desert Group of World War II, but on a slightly smaller scale theater, against slightly less numerous enemies, but with more modern weaponry and equipment.

Lancelot Speed

Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Peniakoff DSO MC, a Belgian of White Russian descent, was called "Popski" by Bill Kennedy Shaw, the Intelligence Officer of the Long Range Desert Group, because his signallers had trouble with the spelling of his surname.


Long-range penetration

Though the concept of long range penetration is as old as war itself, in the modern era it is recognized as starting with Major Ralph Alger Bagnold with his 1940 Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) in the Western Desert and Orde Wingate with his Chindits in Burma in World War II.


see also

David Lloyd Owen

He wrote several book about his experiences – The Desert My Dwelling Place published by Cassell in 1957 and again by Panther Books the following year, and more recently Long Range Desert Group 1940-1945: Providence Their Guide, published by Leo Cooper/Pen & Sword Books in 2001.