Ghost Patrol: A History of the Long Range Desert Group, 1940-1945

by John Sadler

From the author of “an amazing tale of how the world’s very first special force was created specifically for North Africa during WWII” (Books Monthly).The origins of most of the West’s Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group, which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 to 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa, they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greece. In the process, they became the stuff of legend.The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a prewar desert explorer featured in fictional terms in The English Patient, the LRDG used specially adapted vehicles and recruited only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance. Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting, and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier, and the Axis never managed to field a similar unit.Once the desert war was won, they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, retraining as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife-torn Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans. In addition, the LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today.“Genuinely gripping, a tale of eccentrics and their high adventures during very dangerous times.” —Classic Military Vehicle

Genres: History, World War II, Military History

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2015

About the author

Born in 1953, John Sadler has law degrees from Northumbria University and the University of Westminster. A part-time lecturer in military history at Sunderland University Centre for Lifelong Learning, he is currently studying toward a PhD in history and is soon to begin an Imperial War Museum Fellowship in Holocaust Studies. He is the author of over 20 books, including Scottish Battles, published by Birlinn in April 2010. He is married with two children and lives in Newcastle.

Reviews

[JD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a very exciting book about an exciting unit. The author has put together a rather dry read by taking from other earlier books (and has noted it all) and there is not a lot of new info in this book. Also suffers from that pain where the author has put all his research into the book, even when it has only the slightest connection to the story of the LRDG. Rather look for another book on the subject.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent study of a little known or understood part of the Desert War and the British efforts to assist the resistance (eventually Tito) in Yugoslavia. Only deficiency is the one I usually cite for historical works--lack of enough maps! While this book had a few, they only showed a location of a few cities (towns, oases, etc) that are mentioned in the text.
But that said, it's a solid story, well-told!

[merlin513 · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF for the moment.

Reads like a dissertation. EXTREMELY well researched and documented but one really needs a war table of the area and all the pieces to move around like in the movies to keep the troop movements straight. I generally like books like this, but this one I just found confusing. I’ll most likely come back to it later and finish. But at the moment I just don’t have the bandwidth to devote to it.

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the LRDG during WW2 as well as its connection with modern Special Forces units.

[Charles Inglin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable history of the Long Range Desert Group in the Western Desert and then Greece, Italy and the Balkans in World War II. Formed by several explorers who'd been active in charting the Egyptian desert before WWII, the unit specialized in long self supported movements through the desert to outflank the Axis forces. Their main occupation was intelligence gathering, but they also conducted raids, ambushes, and provided transport for the Special Air Service and for allied agents being infiltrated behind enemy lines. A fascinating story about a remarkable and intrepid band of soldiers.