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?

Book reviews

It has been a slow couple of weeks for the project. I've spent the majority of the free time available just thinking about random issues and working on drafts of the outline I have so far. One thing I have been pretty aggressive on is reading as many book reviews as I can get my hands on, with an eye towards ones written on military history books. They serve as an excellent gauge for me on the path I think the outline needs to take. Each review has to be taken with a grain of salt, but they are rather illuminating nonetheless.

Theodolite procedures?

I neglected to mention in the "Quest for sources" post that I am also in dire need of a WWII-vintage copy of instructions for manipulating a theodolite. Even better would be an example of a period of instruction that may have been given to LRDG navigators of that era.

Although the equipment has changed significantly, surveying principles have not, so I believe that readers would gain significant insight from how a navigator like Sadler achieved his plot accuracy.

Maxwell replies

Well, I received a brief reply from Mr. Maxwell today. He is away for the moment and promises to reply in more detail later in the week.

I am hopeful that my query made sense, as it was just a quick email sent out as the thoughts struck me. Maxwell's reference to Sadler's achievements as "legendary" was motivating!