Lofty was serving with the Staffordshire Yeomanry in Palestine when his skill as a navigator reached the ears of Major Ralph Bagnold, who founded the
LRDG in Egypt in 1940.
Born Stuart Michael Carr, but known as Mike, he is now 96 - and of his 6ft 4 frame which earned him his nickname, he jokes: "In the Army, anybody over 5ft 8 was called 'Lofty'!" Originally called the Long Range Patrol (LRP) the
LRDG was founded in Egypt in June, 1940, by Major Ralph Bagnold.
Little detail has been written about the
LRDG, since many of their ops were held secret for decades after World War II.
The specific aims of this study are: to estimate degree of noncompliance with Canada's
LRDG in different groups of drinkers after adjusting for degree of under-reporting, and to identify which types of beverage are more likely to be consumed when
LRDGs are exceeded.
The 58-year-old, of Whitby, also provided expert advice, photographs and
LRDG veterans for interview.
In the formof a no-nonsensememoir by a plucky young British officer, he describes a fact-based
LRDG attempt to kill the wily Desert Fox himself and thereby decapitate the Axis forces at a single stroke.
Formed in late June 1940, the
LRDG was initially composed of British officers and soldiers from New Zealand and Rhodesia.
The
LRDG was to collect intelligence on the Axis army's advance on Cairo and conduct hit and run commando raids to disrupt it.
Nicknamed the Ghost Patrols, the
LRDG swiftly became the silent masters of the desert.
MAJOR GENERAL DAVID LLOYD OWEN, who as commander from 1943 to 1945 of the Long Range Desert Group, a reconnaissance unit composed largely of men who had prewar experience in exploring the desert, won the MC for his part in the joint raid on Tobruk by the
LRDG and the SAS in September 1942.
At the same time, these photos are eerily reminiscent of the Long Range Desert Group ("
LRDG") in action in the Western Desert 75 years ago.
He realised one of the timers among the cache of bombs on the
LRDG Chevrolet was alight and screamed for everyone to jump off.