Appeal of the Day........from Murray

Bernie Shapiro was my lead scout in another life. These days hes doing stuff involving jeeps and the LRDG including a trip to the desert. He's asking for people who had relatives who fought in North Africa to give him details so they can take with the expedition. He'll be carrying the details of three of my great uncles and my grandfather, all of whom were clever enough to not get dead. Meanwhile this nutter (who I had to forcibly restrain from getting on a plane during Gulf War V 1.0) is asking for anyone else who wants to contribute;

We would be very honoured if readers could register their family links with the North African Campaign of 1940-1943 by listing:

Their Grandfather's or Father's Name
Their service number if known
Who they served with and when.
Where they fought and if they fell in action or survived.

This list will mean an enormous amount to K Troop members and the WDRG expedition as a whole, as it will be above all for the surviving family members that we are going to Africa to illustrate our forebears' sacrifices and conditions.
If we have names, contacts with the families, stories of Kiwis in the desert and your blessings we will carry these with us and go that extra mile for you. Where possible, we will visit cemeteries and lay wreathes to honour those who never made it home.

Linkage
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=96832328976&ref=mf
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=96832328976&topic=8392
http://www.wdrg.org

oelreddh AT paradise.net.nz

K Troop
4 Ash Street
Christchurch, New Zealand

I've added him as a sugested contact for your facebook as well to speed up information flow.

Additional info:

A New Zealand Contingent has been invited to travel across the Saharan Desert in North Africa in 2010 - but with period WW2 equipment and vehicles!

Christchurch's Poplar Lane has a new noise: WW2 engines and Big Band 'Swing' music emanating from New Zealand's only operating WW2 era Workshop.

A small group has accepted a challenge to raise money for both the UK's and NZ's Benevolent Fund: charities that help veterans affected by conflict.
However they are not going about it in the usual manner; they have answered a call from Britain much as their Grandfathers once did in 1940 and will be traveling to North Africa to relive the conditions experienced 70 years ago, joining with their British counterparts in an international adventure.

In 1940 a small group of Kiwis led by English officer Ralph Bagnold crossed the Sahara to operate behind enemy lines. They were so effective that only months later the British began to operate similar patrols to destroy and disrupt supply lines. They were the Long Range Desert Group and despite our pledge 'Lest we forget' New Zealand seems to have forgotten them after all.

It is the intention of these historians and adventurers to remind us that they were not merely legends, but ordinary Citizen Soldiers from all walks of life who adapted to an environment so utterly alien it might as well have been on the Moon.

Thanks to the Mayor of Christchurch and the goodwill of local business property managers Lisle Hood and John Webb, "Kiwi" Troop has occupied a Warehouse and is currently restoring a fleet of WW2 vehicles to take with them to Cairo. From there they will head off across the Qattara Depression into Libya and the Dune Sea, returning to the battlefields of Tobruk and El Alamein on ANZAC Day 2010 for a solemn dawn service.

A film unit will travel with them to document the event in which participants will emulate the same living standards as the LRDG [with modern back-up SatNav and GPS]. The object will be to provide a rare insight to the conditions our Grandfathers experienced yet never talked of to their families; proceeds from the doco will assist veterans from NZ and Britain.

The "Western Desert Reconnaissance Group" is a 45 man strong expedition segregated into three parties. K Troop, B [British] Troop and H [Heavy] Troop: the supply and recovery patrol.

Major Gary Wallace [British Army] is the Expedition Leader and sees the unique project as 'A slice of living history, with flies, real discomfort and dangerous risks' - a world apart from normal re enaction where the public can go to view period articles in a safe environment. "The only thing missing from this trip are the threats from Axis Aircraft."

But why would a normally sane bunch of people want to put themselves through such a punishing trip?

"Our World War Two Veterans are disappearing incredibly quickly," says K Troop team leader Bernard Shapiro, "and in the next two to three years there may not be anyone left. We need to thank them, ask them how it was and to gain some measure of understanding for what they endured. It's only through ignorance that history repeats itself and time is running out. Our intention is to take our promise "Lest We Forget" and cement it back into living memory. When we at last stand on the battlefield of El Alamein, dirty and exhausted from the desert, to lay wreaths on the Memorials in the dawn of ANZAC Day 2010, we want to finally be able to say "We now remember them"."

"The message is simple - that any soul is capable of the deeds of our grandfathers, that they were essentially no different to us today and that NOTHING is impossible."

"It's the Kiwi habit of hitting above our weight and succeeding every time; a steadfastly unique trait. What we need now are people to believe in this vision; to get behind us and help. I hear a lot of complaining about the wayward youth of today but very few people do anything more than that. Here's our chance to prove beyond any doubt that we're still ANZACs, capable of anything. Let's give the younger generation a cornerstone to believe in."

Recently a documentary "Lost in Libya" featuring New Zealander author and historian Brendan O'Carroll was broadcast with exceptional archival footage and facts about the LRDG.

"We'd like to salute the producers, film unit, Kuno Gross and Brendan O'Carroll for their efforts. They have made a good documentary about what was achieved, but we feel it hasn't quite touched on the real grit of the chaps in the LRDG: what they went through and how they got around. O'Carroll and his group travelled in Air Conditioned modern vehicles to provide us with a glimpse of where they went - no small feat on its own!

They've provided a marvellous introduction to the 'Who' - we'd like to provide the more uncomfortable 'How'."

K Troop is now seeking funding and material assistance from fellow New Zealanders, especially those whose forebears served in the North African Campaign of 1940-43. Once the vehicles are finished they aim to tour schools and clubs taking their message of Real Kiwi Ingenuity into the community.

"Without the backing of New Zealanders we'll never have this educational resource - its a chance of a lifetime to make a difference to our perceptions of ourselves, of our history, and to fortify our national values. If we received .50c from every grown Kiwi in NZ, we'd fund the whole trip, British included - that'd give the Brits something to think about!"

Interested parties can read the progress of K Troop at http://wdrg.org/blog/ or make donations to The LRDG Kiwi Expedition Charitable Trust via BNZ banks.