Champion.

Apparently the LRDG were not as keen on the Ford 4x4 truck as the Chevrolet of similar size. The Chevy was faster and more frugal on the juice. Perhaps this explains why their wrecks outnumber those of the Chevys. ‘Hardly worth returning for as it’s only a Ford’, would be the cry in the barracks. This one is fairly northerly in the Great Sand Sea, it’s flathead V8 removed and dumped in front of it. maybe an abandoned repair. One for my old pal Affer though. A Champion spark plug that he will no doubt pass comment on. Pictures are; a kite cam shot of the scene, a long shot that shows the nothingness surrounding the wreck and detail shots.

Inspector Gadget.

Having found the Fort, but been unable to photograph it without permission from ‘the top’ our next goal was to find the hanger that had been attacked so successfully on January 11th 1941. Pat Clayton and his party headed east towards the Airfield - little more that a cleared stretch of sand. They found the hanger with three Ghibli aircraft inside, but encountered some opposition from the Italians guarding the area, losing two of their own men. The French Colonel, d'Ornano and a member of T Patrol. We hoped to be more lucky! I am again grateful to Dr Martin Sterry for spending time searching both the 1958 Aerial Photograph and the contemporary Google Earth images to locate, what he thought, looked like 50m x 20m structure ‘with well defined edges’. Martin supplied a waypoint and we headed for it, turning south off the tarmac and out into open farmland. The hanger was soon visible, but surrounded by high hedges and looked harder to access than it had been in 1941. We stopped and asked a farmer how to get into it and he replied ‘Ahhh The old Italian Airfield?’. We had found it and here are a selection of pictures, the new ones showing it as it is today and the old B&W from Bill Kennedy-Shaw’s excellent 1945 book, ‘LRDG’. Just visible on the B&W are the two windows set high in the west facing (towards the town) wall.

It was an emotive experience to stand on the very spot, exactly 70 years on - to the hour! We hope to have many similar high points on the Easter trip to Egypt. One place still available!

How to spend Easter. No eggs!

The web site is up!

For two weeks we shall re-enact many of the daring escapades of the legendary Long Range Desert Group in a pair of original 1943, World War Two, Jeeps. Our expedition, limited to just eight people, will drive through the stunning dunes of the Great Sand Sea.  Explore the Gilf el Kebir, a plateau the size of Switzerland. Camp under the stars a million miles from the nearest town.  Stand in the Cave of the Swimmers, immortalised in the film, The English Patient.   Live for that Ice Cold in Alex moment as we celebrate in exactly the same bar as they did 70 years ago. This is no cruise along the Mediterranean coast, but the real thing, sweat, steam and fatique, but with a fully equipped logistics team on hand to cook, wash up and guide us through some of the most beautiful desert scenery on the planet.

Departing from Cairo, we shall cover in the region of 1200 desert miles between Monday 18th April 2011 and Monday 2nd May 2011.