A.D. 'Buster' Gibb

20 September 1916 - 31 May 2002

Buster Gibb, Rex Beech, Joe Eyles

Alfred Duncan "Buster" Gibb, Service No 1373, was known as Buster since the day afterhe was born. Before the war he was a member of the Marlborough Mounted Rifles and when the call came he was posted overseas with the NZ Divisional Cavalry. While in Egypt in July 1940 he volunteered to serve with a special behind the lines unit known as the Long Range Patrol. He joined W Patrol with the rank of corporal. Recalling his first impressions of the vast desert expanse Buster said;

" While on our first trip we stopped on an escarpment, and the view in front of us was desert that extended as far as the eye could see. I experienced a prickling in the scalp that was hard to describe. It wasn't fear, it was excitement at the start of an adventure that was to test our Kiwi ingenuity and lead to life long friendships.

W Patrol was commanded by Captain E C Mitford of the Royal Tank Regiment. At first the relationship between the Englishman and the New Zealanders was poor and confrontational, to such an extent that some of the men wanted to do him in; it was Buster's intervention that prevented that happening. W Patrol's first encounter with enemy was when they captured two Italian supply trucks full of stores including Chianti, and mail bags containing valuable information. It coincided with Buster's birthday, so he sought permission from Mitford to have a double celebration and was granted an extra rum issue. Unfortunately, some of the men added the Chianti to their rum producing a very potent brew. Most of them, including Buster, performed that night and were severely hung over the next morning. Consequently, Mitford was not amused and Buster was faced with a court martial when they returned from the patrol.

Later in the trip W Patrol attacked the Italian fort at Ain Dua, where Lieutenant Jim Sutherland and Trooper L A Willcox won the Military Cross and the Military Medal respectively. At the end of the patrol just before they left the Sand Sea, they decided to ensure that they did not return to base with any rum. So they tipped it all into a four gallon tin, topped it up with lime juice and let their hair down. By this time Mitford had mellowed, as he had seen the Kiwis had proven themselves tough and capable soldiers, and Buster had his court martial dropped.

Buster always spoke his mind, which at times got him into trouble with his superiors. On one occasion he accused his officers of accepting a bribe to put Dunlop tyres on the trucks and demanded a cut for the patrol members, hence his second threatened court martial, though the charge was eventually dropped. Originally the tyres were all Firestones and it was estimated they did a million and a half truck miles on those with only one puncture. But suddenly before their next trip they were ordered to remove all the Firestones and replace them with Dunlops. But those tyres proved inferior, so extra spares had to be carried as more punctures developed. Eventually, as result of Buster confronting his superiors the Dunlops were removed and replaced again by the Firestones.

One incident in the desert that had its rewards and can still be seen today was the result of his 'bomb' encounter. While out on patrol he came across what he thought was an unexploded bomb sticking out of the sand, though on inspection it turned out to be a parachute flare. He carefully removed the silk parachute from the container, cut off the linen ropes and bundled the chute in the truck. Later he carefully unplucked the linen bands holding the ropes to the silk, and then posted it home to his fiancée Dorothy. Three years later he returned to NZ on furlough and they were married. The wedding dress was made from the silk recovered from the middle of Libya!

W Patrol was disbanded in December 1940 when a British Guards patrol was formed. Following that the unit became known as the Long Range Desert Group. Buster was promoted to sergeant and was transferred to R Patrol. Later in 1942 he was offered promotion to Warrant Officer, but he turned it down, as it would have meant he would have to stay at base and would not have gone on patrol. He left the LRDG and returned to the Divisional Calvary, fought on in the desert campaigns and was later commissioned. He was invited to rejoin the Group, but declined.

Buster and his wife Dee were regular attendees of LRDG reunions and bought much amusement and life to the gatherings. He was a great story teller and it is wonderful that his 'scorpion tales' have now been permanently recorded for future generations to ponder. Sadly he passed away on 31 May 2002, but his stories will now live forever.

By Brendan O'Carroll