Being there . . . . to appreciate, value, then consider for purchase a recently published near
perfect World War II book as this Christmas Day’s gift for your favorite military reading buff. If
an ardent reader, he or she will know all about the remarkable Long Range Desert Group and
the Special Air Service as a matter of course, intrigued by their extraordinary achievements:
major desert warfare victories where indeed “the heroic was ordinary”. Over the past few
decades, books about the LRDG have been missing from publishers’ Fall, Winter, and Spring
announcements. Why remain clear of the most effective of all the Allied “special forces”
established by Churchill during the Second World War? Response, “Their accomplishments
have been told so many times previously, especially by the British publishing houses between
1946 and prior to 1980, why repeatedly rehash their stunning acquirements?” Why? Because
every time a first-rate scholar, which includes just about all historically minded graduate
students in top universities, research the LRDG and its warriors, i.e., the Coldstream and Scots
Guards, British yeomanry cavalry, New Zealanders, South Africans, and Indian Army men, new
facts, new personalities, new victories, new losses turn up. Their stories have rarely appeared in
print since first introduced between 1946 and 1956. And, wow, did author David Syrett hit the
jackpot of new information! After decades of meticulous research, it was officially released.
Then, in July 2013, loyal, loving wife, Elena Frangakis-Syrett, took up the final stages of editing
for submission to Helion & Company Limited in England for copyright and printing. Without
question, this is one of the Top Three books yet researched and printed about the history and
stories of the Long-Range Desert Group.
Thoroughly reviewed and highly, very highly, recommended by Don DeNevi as a top WWII book
gift for Yule Day.
“THE EYES OF THE DESERT RATS – – British Long-Range Reconnaissance Operations in the North
African Desert 1940 – 1943”, by David Syrett and Elena Frangakis-Syrett. Helion Company
Limited, distributed in America by Casemate Publishers: first published 2014, reprinted 2024,
330 pages, hardcover, 6 ¼” x 9 ¼”, highly illustrated with color maps, note brilliant Bibliographic
Essay, pp. 309-314; by consensus best LRDG book yet written, and Bibliography, pp. 315 – 319;
best LRDG bibliography yet compiled; final three pages devoted to Indices of Military Units by
page numbers, and Miscellaneous terms; $70. Visit, www.helion.co.uk, and blog at
https://helionbooks.wordpress.com/.
Although highly effective in their raids against German and Italian troops in the northern
deserts of Africa, both Hitler and Mussolini considered the LRDG a mere nuisance on their way
to capture Cairo and the middle East. Sadly, in spite of the Group’s fame and effectiveness, the
British high command never truly appreciated their worth. Gradually, they were phased out or
moved to other theatres.
Here, first David, then later, after his untimely death, wife Elena update the known tactics,
techniques, and remarkable successes of the Long-Range Reconnaissance Group. Best of all,
each highlights the extraordinary overall story of how a relatively small number of dedicated
men developed the methods and techniques for crossing by motor vehicle the depths of the
then unmapped and seemingly impassable great deserts of Egypt and Libya, the Western
Desert, during the British Army’s North African Campaign of 1940-43. The efforts of the Syretts
to not only answer how the deep desert was best used for military purposes in WWII, but also
how pertinent their contributions are in today’s military operations remain incalculable.
