Trooper 37404
T and T2 Patrol
Long Range Desert Group
New Zealand Armoured Corps
Leslie
was the third son of Murdoch and Anna McIver.
Born at Mohaka, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
22nd February 1914.
At the outbreak of World War II he was a taxi driver in Wairoa.
9th June 1940 he signed up for the army.
3rd October 1940 he entered camp
19th December 1940 he embarked for Egypt where he arrived 30th January 1941.
Here he was part of the Long Range Desert Group. To find out about how these patrols worked behind enemy lines take the links at the bottom of this page, or go to my own LRDG pages.
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Photographs from Leslie's time in the
LRDG:
Early Days of the LRDG
Selection for the LRDG
Men from T Patrol LRDG
Siege of Giarabub
Kufra
Taizerbo
Zighen
Leave
Siwa
On 23rd November 1941 he became a Prisoner of War at Wadi Heleighima. Lance-Corporal R T Porter was captured by an Italian reconnaissance patrol while on picket duty with part of T patrol that was watching the Mechili-Derna Rd. When other members of T Patrol went to the area where Porter had disappeared they were attacked in a wadi, and Captain Hunter, Corporal Kendall and Trooper McIver were all presumed to have been captured or killed. Later it was found that Captain Hunter had evaded capture, but the rest were prisoners.
8th December 1941 Leslie was transported from Benghazi on the Jason, also known as the Sebastiano Venier and the Jantzen, which was torpedoed by the British submarine, Porpoise. 500 POWs died, including 45 New Zealanders. To find out more about what happened on the Jason take this link.
Times spent in these camps has been taken from the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War, Prisoners of War, by W. Wynne Mason. This should be close to the times Les spent in these camps.
Leslie was mortally wounded in fighting between the Russian and German troops, while the men were being evacuated from Ruckenwaldau. Archie Matheson, Arthur Randall, and Fry were killed in this skirmish. A chap called Atkinson was also wounded, and both he and Les ended up in a Russian army hospital at Modlau (now Modla, Poland). On the 14th Les died. He had been shot in the hip, and had got septecemia, and finally his heart could take no more.
As I gather more information, I will be adding to this page. If anyone
can assist in any way, I would appreciate it. Email
:7jean@orcon.net.nz (removing the 7 in front of jean)
I am particularly interested in finding anyone else that was at Ruckenwaldau, Campo 57, or anyone off the Jason.
My Sincere Thanks:
Please take a look at the
Allied Special Forces
Association web site. This association has been very helpful in
my pursuit of information, in particular one member Tony Page, who has put many hours into this quest.
I would also like to thank the many people who have helped with the Russian archives.
Dr. Vladimir Beliakov has been of immense help in liaising with various people there. Vladimir is wanting information about Russian Prisoners of War who were in North Africa. A number were taken there by the Germans. If you have any information, or came across any of these POWs could you email Vladimir (removing the 8 in front of beliakov).
There are lots of others that have helped me in this quest. Their help has been invaluable.
Long Range Desert Group Preservation Society
Long Range Desert Group - German site
Index |
Genealogy
Number visiting this page since August 2002.
