The real Murzuq Fort attacked by the LRDG

As you enter Murzuq from the Sebha Road, as the LRDG did exactly 70 years ago, on January 11th., the ‘Fort’ is to the west of the town - A Medieval construction in pretty good condition and something of a tourist attraction. (featured in an earlier Blog) A hand painted sign proclaims ‘Fort - Murzuq’ so it would be a fair assumption that this was the fort the LRDG attacked on that victorious day in 1941. But standing there in the square it didn’t add up. It all the references I have read, nothing is mentioned of a Mosque, yet it dominates the central square. Also, in Bill Kennedy-Shaw’s book LRDG, he says the road led straight to the Fort. This road took in several turns! Within our team of Archaeologists we are lucky to have Dr. Martin Sterry. Martin’s specialist subject is the analysis of ariel photography in search of Archaeological sites and, by chance, he had a 1958 ariel photograph of Murzuq. On it can clearly be seen the old sand track into town, leading to another fort. This second fort is a more likely candidate, as it is still a military establishment today, meaning I was unable to get permission to photograph even the exterior, which may have shown a bit of original damage. I did, however, grab a shot as we drove along the very approach road the LRDG must have driven along as they ‘managed a good shot at the tower’. It is also far closer to the Airfield - something else mentioned in other reports.

So I present to you, probably for the first time, pictures of the Fort the LRDG attacked on January 11th, 1941.

Hope I don’t get a knock on the door from giving away any secrets!

Siwa Days

Our Expedition driving 1200 miles into The Sahara will end, as many LRDG trips did, in Siwa. This Oasis town has grown in isolation to the rest of Egypt and Libya - for it is very close to the current border. Virtually inaccessible for most of its history, Siwa has a unique character and the Siwan people, predominantly Berbers, have features unseen in the rest of Egypt. Rounder faces and a high proportion of Albino’s for some reason. The old mud brick town still has some inhabited buildings, whist most residents have migrated to the younger buildings spreading out into the desert landscape. Siwa is the location of The Oracle. The real one! Where Alexander the Great was confirmed as Divine and a Pharaoh of Egypt. We shall bath in the hot spring and wash 12 days of grime away, then enjoy the comfort of an Hotel for the night.

The photos show an existing Egyptian Army base still operating in Siwa, Chris Scott bouncing around in a donkey drawn cart - a popular means of transport there, and the view of the eroded hill looking across the ancient mud brick town.

Link of the day. British Pathe News has some remarkable old B&W film of the LRDG departing Siwa and towards the end of the clip the landmark of the eroded hill is clearly visible.

A tight fit

A productive day up at the Matt Savage Overland Preparation Barn in Matlock. I went up in the 101 to have a few minor jobs done - new brake linings, oil and filter change and general check over. This accomplished, we thought it would be prudent to try and fit the Willys MB in the back. The master plan is to stick one Jeep in the back of the 101 and tow the other on a trailer, as far as Venice, where we shall drive them onto a ferry and head for Alexandria. The great news is that the measurements proved correct and a Jeep will just fit in the back of a 101. It’s tight, but with a set of 15 inch Suzuki SJ rims, no tyres and the steering wheel removed, we shall be able to have the roof on for the 2000 mile return trip.

Following in their tyre tracks.

It will be 70 years ago next year, that Ralph Bagnold was asked to form the Long Range Desert Group. Their forays behind enemy lines caused havoc amongst the Italian forces - blowing up airfields, destroying communication lines and knocking out remote desert outposts. They mainly used Ford and Chevrolet 30 cwt. trucks, but when David Stirling came along with his newly formed SAS, the Jeep gave them a big advantage in speed and manoeuvrability. Colossal distances were covered in heavily laden Willy’s MB’s and Ford GPW’s. Tales of heroic ‘walk outs’ are still unmatched today. Next Easter we shall be driving many of their routes - down to The Gilf el Kebir, 8 Bells, up to Shaw’s Cave, Big Cairn and finally, their base for much of the conflict, Siwa.

Full details will be on our web site, going live by mid October.

Link for the day!

Leaps and Bounds.

Back in September 2007 I detailed the rebuild of the first Jeep on the Blog, ‘1943 Jeep Rebuild’. (Scroll down to the bottom) That Jeep has now clocked up a trouble free 1500 miles and after a very small list of snagging problems have been sorted out, will be ready for it’s big Egyptian challenge.
The second Jeep rebuild will be detailed here, but not in so much detail, as it is much the same story.
Progress is going well, and on schedule for a completion at the end of October, or beginning of November. So far all the brakes and wheel bearing have been rebuilt with new parts and the floor of the body tub has been repaired with panels supplied by Jeeparts in Shrewsbury. The rolling chassis has now been painted in Desert Sand and the next stage will be fitting the body tub. The engine was a runner and we had an amusing run up and down the farm track with no brakes and little in the way of steering! It has now been fitted with a new clutch assembly and water pump and we shall reassess the engine condition when it’s easier to drive.

A Grand Plan

Four of us - Myself, John Carroll, Sam Watson and Mahmoud Marai, have long harboured the dream of driving authentic World War 2 Jeeps across the Sahara, following the routes taken by The Long Range Desert Group. With the first Jeep finished and having clocked up 1500 trouble free miles and the second nearing completion in the Matt Savage Overland Preparation Barn, plans are going well for this unique adventure next Easter . Many e-mails have been exchanged, but with John and Sam up in Yorkshire, me in Leicester and Mahmoud in Cairo, the opportunities to meet up are rare.
This month, Matt had a stall at the Peterborough Land Rover Show and us three Brits were all going, so as the show drifted from shopping to partying we met in Matt’s marquee for a barbecue (hence the smokey picture) and a chat to finalise plans.
This Blog will detail the build up to our Easter 2011 departure.
The main photo is a montage of the one finished Jeep, duplicated and set against a background of the Gilf el Kebir, shot back in 2004 on my last visit. The second shot is the four of us Brits - left to right, Matt Savage, in charge of Jeep rebuilds and helping me get both Jeeps to Venice to catch the ferry to Alexandria, Sam Watson, ex Cairo resident and expert of the Long Range Desert Group, John Carroll, life long Jeep enthusiast who has driven more Jeep miles, in more countries, than most and me, enjoying a beer!