Owen, David L. The Desert my Dwelling Place

With the Long Range Desert Group in North Africa

In mid-1941, 24-year-old David Lloyd Owen joined the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) as a young patrol leader. He quickly found his feet and learned the art of survival and navigation deep in the Libyan desert. He reports in detail on the members of his Y patrol, their working methods, their team spirit and their camaraderie. The LRDG was primarily concerned with reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, but was also allowed to dish out the occasional bonus. With astonishing navigational skills based on the invention of the sun compass by its founder Bagnold and unparalleled long-range signal communication, the LRDG became masters of the deep desert an area that was virtually a no-go zone for the Axis powers. Here, Lloyd Owen describes the origins of the LRDG and the formation and early operations of the SAS under David Stirling, as well as the close and successful cooperation between the two units during the rest of the campaign in the desert and beyond. Popski's Private Army also worked with the LRDG, and the author recounts his contacts with them. For many months, a significant part of the LRDG's work consisted of monitoring the main coastal road, counting all enemy traffic and movements in both directions, and immediately forwarding the valuable information to headquarters in Cairo. Other patrols not assigned to road surveillance had all kinds of tasks to perform, and the Y Patrol was involved in the 1942 raid on Tobruk, during which Lloyd Owen was seriously wounded by a Heinkel cannon. He describes their difficult military task, which was carried out by hand-picked, highly skilled and disciplined men, who were occasionally cheered up by exuberant and cheerful breaks in the entertainment districts of Cairo. The Desert My Dwelling Place covers Lloyd Owen's own triumphs and frustrations, as well as those of the LRDG during the desert campaign, which ended with Rommel being finally driven out of North Africa after Montgomery's victory at El Alamein.