An extremely rare Long Range Desert Group M.M. awarded to Sergeant J. M. ‘Tobruk’ Lowenthal, Union Defence Force, late Southern Rhodesia Military Forces and Cheshire Regiment Middle East Commando, who served with the L.R.D.G. in the Western Desert, Albania and Jugoslavia

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (SR/ 599016V. A.Sjt. J. M. Lowenthal, U.D.F.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, 8th Army; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; Africa Service Medal (SR.599016 J. M. Lowenthal) officially impressed; Efficieny Medal, Southern Rhodesia, G.VI.R., 1st issue (CR2068 Sgt. Morris J. Lowenthal, M.M.) together with Cheshire Regiment and Middle East Commando cap badges, rare LRDG/SAS cloth wings, and ‘LRDG Shellhole’ enamelled lapel pin, contact marks and edge bruise to the last, otherwise good very fine (12) £4000-5000

M.M. London Gazette 13 December 1945. The recommendation states:

‘Sergeant Lowenthal joined the Long Range Desert Group in the Desert in 1941 and took part in twelve patrols behind the lines in Libya. In June 1944 he was a member of a patrol which carried out a successful attack on an enemy Observation Post in Albania, where his leadership and coolness in this action were outstanding. In August 1944 he dropped by parachute with four men to join another Long Range Desert Group patrol in Yugoslavia and despite a damaged ankle walked over 100 miles before he was evacuated. In February 1945 he was landed by sea on the coast of Istria where his patrol was split in two sections to observe shipping movements. He commanded one section and maintained a watch each day for nearly two months from a point where the enemy were billeted only a mile away. Throughout all these operations Sergeant Lowenthal has shown great courage, enthusiasm, and coolness under fire, and his leadership and ability have set a fine example to all ranks working with him.’

John Morris Lowenthal, who was born in Penza, Russia in August 1917, arrived in Southern Rhodesia in 1928, and was educated at Milton High School in Bulawayo. Having joined the Gwanda Regiment (Territorial Force) in October 1936, he was mobilised on the outbreak of hostilities and posted ‘on commitment outside the Colony’, enlisting in the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment at Mersa Matruh in early 1940.

Active service in Egypt followed, and in Crete between November 1940 and March 1941, latterly, it would seem, as a member of ‘No. 50 Commandos M.E.’. Returning to Egypt in the latter month, Lowenthal was wounded in action shortly afterwards. Then brief appointments with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers and ‘No. 51 Commandos M.E.’ led, finally, to his membership of the Long Range Desert Group (L.R.D.G.), which body was well-manned by hardy Rhodesians and New Zealanders.

So ensued a lengthy and memorable stint of service in North Africa, which lasted until March 1943, a period that encompassed no less than 12 patrols behind enemy lines in the course of 1941, and graduation from the famous parachute course at Kabrit. Throughout this period, in fact, the L.R.D.G. worked in close liaison with ‘L’ Detachment, S.A.S., the former acting as the eyes and ears of the latter, who were not infrequently accompanied by their reconnaissance partners when it came to delivering “the final punch”. As David Stirling, founder of the S.A.S., stated in a post-war letter to Lowenthal (the original of which accompanies the Lot):

‘The L.R.D.G. had a much larger than minute part in the forming and growth of the early S.A.S. I always state, when asked, that the L.R.D.G. and not the S.A.S. were “Masters of the Desert”. Although we had a different role, it was the L.R.D.G. which taught us about the Desert.’

While exact details of Lowenthal’s patrols are not yet confirmed, it is clear from accompanying research and letters that he was involved in at least one S.A.S. airfield raid, quite possibly the disastrous Timimi-Gazala operation of November 1941, when Stirling, “Paddy” Mayne and other stalwarts of the S.A.S. were rescued in a desert rendezvous.

In March 1943 Rhodesian personnel were withdrawn from service in British units, Lowenthal gaining appointment as a Sergeant in the Rhodesian African Rifles until being embodied in the S.A. Union Defence Force in March 1944, and once more seconded to the L.R.D.G. So followed, as recounted in his M.M. recommendation, further acts of great bravery in occupied Albania and Yugoslavia. And throughout these operations Lowenthal served in the patrol commanded by a fellow Rhodesian, Lieutenant Mike Reynolds, M.C.

The Albania operation of June 1944 stemmed from intelligence received from an Officer of S.O.E’s Force 266, none other than Anthony Quayle, the well-known actor, who had lately returned from behind enemy lines. He reported of the establishment of a German coast-watching station near Valona, a target that was duly assigned to the L.R.D.G., Lloyd-Owen, C.O. of the L.R.D.G., Reynolds and 33 other men departing Brindisi in an Italian MAS Boat in the morning of 29 June, the gallant Lowenthal among them. The engagement that ensued receives due recognition in Lloyd-Owen’s definitive history of the L.R.D.G., a naval bombardment being followed by a classic assault of the enemy’s position, amidst the ‘patter of machine and tommy guns and a few small explosions’, Lowenthal displaying outstanding leadership and coolness. The operation was a complete success, the victorious raiders returning aboard some destroyers with some useful prisoners. Less certain, but not unlikely, is that Lowenthal returned to the same enemy position in the following month, when Reynolds was asked to go and recce. the latest developments there. In the event, he found that they ‘had reinforced the position and begun to repair the blockhouse. However, for some strange reason they then changed their minds and blew it sky-high. Mike was then told to go and find out about a near-by coastal battery. This he did admirably, and got back with some excellent photographs.’

Again, as recounted in Lowenthal’s M.M. recommendation, he next returned to the operational scene in August 1944, landing in Yugoslavia. Lloyd-Owen states that another man accompanied this patrol, and that it was flown to a Partisan airstrip rather than being parachuted in:

‘Mike Reynolds took only three Rhodesians with him when he was flown to a Partisan-held airstrip to the east of Fiume on 27 August. They had made an unsuccessful attempt to parachute two nights before, but bad weather had prevented them from landing when they were only a few miles from their dropping zone.

His orders were to establish a shipping watch in Istria between Fiume and Pola, and he spent some time trying to get through German formations near Fiume. They knew of his presence, and were hunting him. Some idea of the difficulties he was facing can be gathered from the following signal he sent us in mid-September:

Advanced twenty miles night before last. Huns did the dirty, attacked us yesterday afternoon. We had to retreat fifteen miles this morning.

When they eventually got into Istria they were ordered out again by the Partisans.

Somehow Mike overcame this problem, and he set up watch on the east coast on 29 September – one month after he had landed in Yugoslavia. But the Germans were after him with a portable detection-finding station, hoping to pick up his wireless transmissions. One day a patrol got so near that Mike had to fight. He laid a successful ambush, and killed three of the enemy. But Mike and his men were never found, and he continued to send us most admirable information.

When he already had these difficulties to cope with it was odious to think that the Partisans saw fit to add to them. They always resented our presence in Istria, for it was too near to the Trieste that they coveted. Their technique was to make things impossible for us, but they found Mike a very determined character who was not going to be put off easily. We were therefore not surprised, but heartily sick, when Mike was ordered out of Istria by our Allies – the Partisans of Tito. He asked to be picked up by sea rather then have to retrace his steps over difficult and enemy-ridden country. We got them back to Italy on 17 October, after having done a very good job.’

Despite this volte-face by the Partisans, it was decided, in February 1945, that another L.R.D.G. patrol would have to be inserted to keep up coast watching duties, the enemy’s shipping in the area of Istria moving too freely for comfort at night. Reynolds was the first to be chosen for the task, the aim being for his patrol to call in R.A.F. and R.N. strikes on suitable targets. In order to achieve maximum effect, he split-off his team into separate sections, one of which was eventually captured. Their story, and lucky survival from the hands of the Gestapo, is retold by Lloyd-Owen in his L.R.D.G. history, as indeed is the remarkable success of the remainder of the patrol, a vast number of enemy vessels being destroyed or damaged as a result of their intelligence reports. As stated in his M.M. recommendation, Lowenthal remained on station for two months, the enemy being billeted just a mile away from his hideout, an enemy that was fully aware of the L.R.D.G’s presence. Again, as recounted by Lloyd-Owen, searches of the surrounding countryside were frequent, such patrols setting the bush on fire and using dogs. Fascist spies were another threat. Reynolds and his team were finally picked up by an M.T.B. in April 1945, the former having been arrested and threatened by the Partisans.

Lowenthal was returned to the strength of S.A. Union Defence Force, attended the Victory Parade in London in April 1946 and was repatriated to Southern Rhodesia ‘for absorption into the Military Forces of that Colony’ soon after his return. He received his M.M. at an investiture held by George VI at Government House in Salisbury in April 1947 and enjoyed a successful civilian career, including as appointment on the Board of Rhodesian Railways in the 1970s.

Sold with ten original wartime photographs, some with reverse captions, including two of L.R.D.G. jeeps; post-war letters from Major-General D. L. Lloyd-Owen, C.O. of the L.R.D.G., and Colonel David Stirling, founder and leader of the wartime S.A.S. (as quoted above); together with several other post-war letters written by the recipient, these with further interesting details concerning his time with the L.R.D.G.