Pirates of the High Desert.

BAGNOLD, Ralph A.; RECONNAISSANCE operations; MILITARY intelligence; ITALIANS

UNITED KingdomReport Available; LIBYAReport Available; NORTH Africa; BALKAN Peninsula

The article focuses on the Long Range Desert Group (LDRG), which was headed by British Major Ralph A. Bagnold. The group started out as a mobile ground scouting force that aimed at penetrating the desert to the west of Egypt to see what the Italians, who had declared war on Great Britain and were garrisoned in southeast Libya, had in mind. It attacked outposts manned by Italians and reportedly carried out more than 200 operations behind enemy lines from the deserts of North Africa to the mountains of the Balkans.