Long Range Desert Group
Jack is one of just four surviving
It’s always the quiet ones which surprise you!
Jack McKinnon rarely misses a meeting at Downend Lodge, where he
was initiated back in 1978. He’s also regularly seen visiting other lodges
at Downend or Stapleton. But few may know that this modest fellow
would have a tale and a half to tell you if you pressed the right button
when seated next to him at the festive board.
The Desert Taxi Service
For Jack was a member of a highly-trained wartime outfit; each
individual being skilled in a particular field to enable them to work as a
team deep behind enemy lines. Besides carrying out reconnaissance
tasks and surveys, guiding allied forces through unmapped terrain and
taking offensive action against enemy communications and airfields,
they were also the means of transport for delivering and recovering
raiding parties, principally David Stirling’s SAS, to the very seat of
action. Hence
they gained
the nickname
‘The Desert
Taxi Service.’
Page 1
’Siggies’
Jack was always known as
Frederick (his first name) in
the army. He joined Royal
Signals in 1942 when he was
18. As well as in basic comms,
he trained as a driver, which
was to become his ‘expert
skill’. He volunteered for
the Desert Group and
joined the force in Egypt
in 1943.
“Our ‘skipper’ was David
Lloyd Owen, who ended
up Major General,” said
Jack. He’d already won
his MC for the raid on
Tobruk by LRDG and SAS
the previous year. He
was a proper
gentleman. He was only
26 when he took over
command of the Desert
Group.
Left:
Jack’s ‘Div Sign’ and
wings
Page 2
“By the time I got to Cairo and saw the pyramids, the North African
campaign had effectively been won and Rommel was on his bike,” he
said. “So it wasn’t long before we upped sticks and moved to Italy for
the big push. We all had to train as parachutists too. I found my way to
Naples, Rome and Yugoslavia.”
On patrol, Jack drove all sorts of vehicles, including, of course, the
Willys MB Jeep and the Ford F30 30 cwt truck.
Page 3
The ‘baby’
“In Italy,” Jack continued, “I was known by the locals
as ‘El bambino del Campo Casa Rosa.’ I was the
youngster of the troop. All the rest were already
veterans.”
The Group in Italy
Dvr McKinnon’s 1944 driving licence
Page 4
Military Dispersal Unit
“With the war won in ‘45, the LRDG was disbanded. I spent some time
with Army Air Corps, before returning to the Siggies. That took me to
Germany and Palestine. I’ve a photo here of us enjoying a break on the
beach in what is now Israel. What you don’t see is one of our men
would have been on guard duty not too far away. I have some fond
memories of the Hole in the Wall Café in Jerusalem.
“By May of 1947 though, I’d had enough. On return to Aldershot, I
made my escape back into Civvy Street. I just consider myself lucky that
I got through it all unscathed.”
Page 5
Reunions
“There are just four of us left from the LRGD. The other three
are Roy Plowright in Blandford, Jack Mann (who speaks ten
languages) and Jim Patch. Jim is the historian on the Group. He
may be 96, but he’s still got all his buttons on! I don’t think I’ve
ever missed a reunion in London or Hereford. In fact, I’m up to
Stirling Lines next week. It’s the 75th anniversary this year of the
forming of the Special Air Service. We are well looked after by
the SAS Association, which sends us a hamper each Christmas.”
Page 6
“The last time I saw Major General Lloyd Owen, he was sitting with
David Stirling at the Duke of York Barracks in London. We all signed
copies of a book about the Desert Group.”
Page 7