A POPULAR SPORT
"Water polo found much favour with members of the Long Range Desert Group,” said Trooper F. J. McKeown, of Waitati, who was a member of the patrol and was recently invalided home, speaking to a reporter yesterday. The man who was responsible for its introduction while the group was based at Siwa, an Arab village only a few hours travel from the Libyan border, was Trooper Colin Kidd, who was formerly a well-known Otago and Southland representative water polo player and swimmer. Large artesian wells, constructed of concrete, were used at Siwa for irrigation purposes, and as these were large enough for the playing of water polo a ball was obtained from the National Patriotic Fund Board and a team organised by Trooper Kidd challenged other patrol teams and emerged with an unbeaten record. Among other well-known swimmers who were included in the successful combination were Troopers G. Williams and F. Whitaker (Napier), L. Donaldson (Christchurch), and L. Lane (Blenheim). -Otago Daily Times, 5/5/1943.
WORK IN THE DESERT OTAGO TROOPER’S EXPERIENCES
“When the history of the Libyan campaign is written it will be found that the activities of the Long Range Desert Group played a very prominent part in the victory.” said Trooper F. J. McKeown, of Waitati, who was a member of the Desert Patrol from December, 1941, until September, 1942, in an interview with a Daily Times reporter yesterday. Trooper McKeown, who was recently invalided home, added that the Eighth Army was able to act on the reports received from the group, in relation to the activities of the Germans, and made its moves accordingly.
The Long Range Desert Group, which was commanded by a British Army officer, Lieutenant-colonel Prendergast, consisted largely of Guardsmen, Rhodesians, and New Zealanders. Most of the 90 New Zealanders who served while Trooper McKeown was with it, were men who had been selected from the cavalry. A high standard of physical fitness was demanded of the men, who had to be well trained. “The work itself was always very exciting and interesting,” Trooper McKeown said. "Every man had to be ‘on his toes’ and know his job — there was no place for the man who was not keen.”
Close Watch on Enemy
Much of the work was of an intelligence nature, he said, and at the time that Marshal Rommel and his men were resting, patrols were on duty with a view to ascertaining what preparations the Germans were making before the attack. Men were detailed singly to watch roads for 24 hours at a time, observing troop movements and the transport of tanks and supplies.
The patrols pierced deeply into the Libyan desert, often as far as 1209 miles from Cairo, and at times 600 miles from the nearest civilised post. Most of the journeys were made across the open desert. No route was regarded as impossible by the men responsible for the transport, and each patrol usually consisted of a unit of 16 men, and four trucks. The units generally operated away from their main base for a period of about three weeks at a time, and were entirely self-contained. Sufficient water for the trip was carried, enough food for a month, and good supplies of ammunition.
In each patrol was a navigator who, as soon as the stars appeared, would make his readings and calculate his position on the map. A good navigator, added Trooper McKeown, could pin-point his position to within a few hundred yards. During the day the driving was done to the compass, but all the night driving was by the stars. One truck in each four was equipped with a radio transmitter, and every truck carried a machine-gun.
A Narrow Escape
“We had to be as big a nuisance to the enemy as we possibly could,” Trooper McKeown said, “and part of the routine was to make sharp raids on the aerodromes and forts which were dotted about the desert.” One of his patrol’s narrowest escapes occurred when two Senussi soldiers who had joined the British army were being taken forward. After driving from noon until 10 o’clock at night, the patrol was suddenly confronted with lights to the left and lights to the right.
The Arabs quickly picked out a Senussi camp on the left and a German on the right. The trucks were almost clear when the leading vehicle, in which Trooper McKeown was the gunner, crashed into a trench. He was hurled out at the rear of the vehicle and pieces of his machine-gun were scattered about the desert. Eventually they were recovered, and the patrol moved off without further incident. At daylight cover was sought in a deep wadi, and here again the men had a lucky escape from an enemy plane which flew almost over their heads without observing them.
The powers of endurance of the members of a patrol were frequently tested, he said. It was no uncommon experience for the men to dig a truck out of the sand with the temperature at 130 degrees. Here, the average rainfall was once in seven years! The food consisted almost entirely of tinned rations, “Bully beef and biscuits formed the staple item of diet” he stated, “and we all thrived on it.”
A Welcome Sight
After travelling for hundreds of miles across the desert, Trooper McKeown said, it was always a welcome sight to come upon a lovely patch of green where there were palm trees and plenty of water. Here, in a small village where the Arabs made a living from the growing of dates and olives, it was possible to obtain vegetables and eggs. For a handful of sugar and tea almost any supplies could be obtained. A tin of salmon, would secure four fresh eggs. The Arabs would not, of course, trade in bacon, but occasionally subterfuge was resorted to by the patrol, and a tin of bacon which was artfully concealed by a wrapper bearing the picture of a fish, would change hands. The sight of a herd of gazelle meant a pleasing addition to the diet. One or two would be shot to provide fresh meat, which was not unlike that of a young deer.
The life was extremely hard in midsummer, because no matter what, the temperature it was dangerous to touch one’s water bottle before 4 o’clock in the afternoon. "Every man was in the patrol, because he loved the job,” Trooper McKeown concluded. “and I am proud to have been associated with it.” -Otago Daily Times, 5/5/1943.
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