Additional photo

This picture seems to have been taken in a sequence that included the title page photo of Sadler. An acquaintance recently commented that he was a handsome fellow, and I suppose that yes, he is in indeed. Herehe wears the rank insignia of a captain, denoted by the three pips found on his epaulets.

I am currently doing a bit of pleasure reading, and Steven Pressfield's novel Killing Rommel: A Novel is on my nightstand for the time being. It is a good portrayal of both the Long Range Desert Group and the Special Air Service during the N. African Campaign, albeit in the midst of a fictionalized mission to kill one Field Marshal Erwin Rommel as he and the Afrika Korps threatened to sweep into Alexandria Cairo unless his successes were curtailed.

My background knowlwedge of both of these formations makes for a very enjoyable read of this mission, and Pressfield brings the characters to life in a manner I could only hope to do with the book.

And on that practical note, I am beginning to think that the final product is going to have to remain devoid of attempts to highlight te mystique of those early members of the SAS, and simply focus on the hard facts and accomplishments. A tall order indeed!

In any event, the book gets a thumbs-up for folks with a interest in WW II history, because it is indeed very historically accurate.

Re-booting this project

Well, I just returned from a deployment to Iraq, and look forward to getting this project back on track.

Not much was done while I was gone. I dabbled with a few readings and thought at length about the flow of what I want to write, but right now I have to start the business of organizing the tons of research notes I have compiled.

I intend to weave that effort in with my professional military education coursework I also have opened right now.

First Editions

I have a weakness for old books, and even though I don't have many, the ones I do own are certainly prized possessions.

I just won a 1945 first edition of Long Range Desert Group: The Story of Its Work 1940-1943, by W.B. Kennedy Shaw. "Sometime Intelligence and Topographical Officer, L.R.D.G." It will have an honored spot on the shelf.

Iconic photographs

I am currently trying to determine if the soldier highlighted in the well-known picture above is Mike Sadler. Any confirmation available, as well as the names of the other gentlemen in the photograph? I understand that Lieutenant Macdonald is driver of the closest Willy jeep.

Another photo at the very top, shot from a different angle in what are a serious of posed photos, offers a closer view, but I still cannot be certain.

LRDG Training Notes

The past month has been slow. Not as much writing as I'd like, and actually more work and research as I read through several books I picked up following a scrub of other bibliographies.

In order to take a break, but continue to make progress to some degree, I decided to start working on the effort to re-type and digitize the copy of the LRDG Training Notes that I acquired from Jack Valenti. In current military terms, the document is closer to a standard operating procedures text or Aide-mémoire, which would be utilized by units to formalize actions, procedures, and techniques during operations.

This effort alone may take another month, since I want to maintain the formatting of the original document, and I've never been too savvy at maximizing the potential of MS Word.

Looking for the source of my evasion silk map

As you can see from the picture above, I procured a silk map some time ago through an online auction. I'd like to determine the year it was made, to confirm whether the auction description is accurate (it refered to it as a US aircrew evasion map of 1943-vintage). Has anyone out there seen something similar, and knows the genealogy?