The Light Car Patrols - War and Exploration in Egypt and Lybia with the Model T Ford (1 Viewer)

[Artillery_crazy]

Light Car Patrols.

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Light Car Patrols.:salute:::salute::

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Light Car Patrols.

 

[Artillery_crazy]

:smile2:Light Car Patrols.

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Light Car Patrols.

 

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Light Car Patrols...WW1 Lybian and Egyptian adventures

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Light Car Patrols...WW1 Lybian and Egyptian adventures:salute::

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Re: The Light Car Patrols - War and Exploration in Egypt and Lybia with the Model T

Light Car Patrols...WW1 Lybian and Egyptian adventuresD

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Re: The Light Car Patrols - War and Exploration in Egypt and Lybia with the Model T

When we think of Desert War the first to come to the mind is WW2 Afrika Korps and the stiff fight they had against the 8th Army while , Gerry was trying to save face of the poorly managed Italian troops in the Lybian desert.....and the likes.....
Then, some may think of Lawrence and his Arabian interlude.....or even going further back Chinese Gordon or Kitchener ......
Well there is a small group of daring British officers and soldiers that made a difference in WW1 and little is known of them.....The Light Car Patrol corps instituted by Major General Arthur Lyden-Bell upon his arrival in Cairo on January 1916. The effort of these few paved the way to the mapping of the desert and the creation of the technics later to be used by the Long Range Desert Group in WW2 as well as the driving in the desert used to this day....
Before WW1, there were no motor cars in the Western Desert......
Apart from the Fayoum Oasis, which is near Cairo and was connected to the Nile Valley by a light railway..all travel was done on camel back. Then came the Fords and later on in 1917, they could easily exceed 161 kms in a day in one journey by far being a faster means of communication in this theater of war....
It is in this context that the Ford Model T came to centre stage in the Desert War.
To understand the situation in the WW1 Western Desert and the invasion of Egypt by the Sanusi army backed by the Ottoman troops, one needs to know that in September 1914, the Sanusi still at war with the Italians since 1911, came to the Egyptian border and encamped still on the Libyan side of the frontier. But then when in 1915 the allies landed on Gallipoli and Italy joined the war on the side of the allies, hostilities began. The British were caugth completely off guard. The comander of the British Army in Egypt Lieutenant -General John Maxwell, responded by ordering six Rolls-Royce armourde cars and twelve Ford Model Ts to support the troops that were fighting the invading army......At this point starts the Ligth Car Patrol legend......
I recommed that those who want to know more read the following books : Wheels Across the Desert by Andrew Goudie - Silpium Press and Light Car Patrols by The Royal Geographical Society - Russell McGuirk - Silpium Press.
Cheers
Artillery_Crazy

 

[Artillery_crazy]

In the coming months I will be - with the help of Obee - be assembling my version of the Light Car Patrol sorties into the Western Desert.....as reference material I will be using the two mentioned books and a lot of support and help from Obee and his extensive military knowledge.....Needless to say this will be a transcontinental Project, linking Brazil, UK and Australia in the effort......and counting that our respectful postal services perform there best....{sm3}{sm3}:salute::

 

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Re: The Light Car Patrols - War and Exploration in Egypt and Lybia with the Model T

Light Car Patrols...WW1 Lybian and Egyptian

 

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Re: The Light Car Patrols - War and Exploration in Egypt and Lybia with the Model T

Light Car Patrols...at the WW1 Lybian and Egyptian War theater

 

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Re: The Light Car Patrols - War and Exploration in Egypt and Lybia with the Model T

Light Car Patrols...WW1