Long Range Desert Group Letter signed by David Lloyd Owen 1993

A hand written Letter from David Lloyd Owen on Long Range Desert Group Association dated 10 March 1993.The Letter is addressed to Wills and thanks him for sending him some books to be signed by him and also recounts an amusing anecdote about another former LRDG veteran.

Overall condition is very good, once folded.

David Lloyd Owen served in the Western Desert from 1939 to July 1941, when he joined the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).

He took part in a number of operations, including the SAS raid on Tobruk in August/September 1942, which earned him the Military Cross. He was wounded in an air raid on the LRDG base at Kufra in October 1942 and nearly lost an arm. He rejoined the LRDG in February 1943, when they underwent training in Lebanon before being sent to the Aegean.

He took command of the LRDG at the end of 1943 after the death of his predecessor Jake Easonsmith during the Battle of Leros. He based himself at Bari in southern Italy from which he mounted a successful raid on Corfu and staged operations in the Dalmatian islands and Yugoslavia. In September 1944, he was parachuted into Albania at night. Shortly after landing he fell 30 ft into a ravine and severely damaged his spine.

Despite being in continual pain, Lloyd Owen directed special forces operations in the mountains for the next three months. Eventually he was evacuated to Italy, was successfully operated on, and told not to return to his former activities. He managed to bluff his way past a medical board and returned to Albania, although this time by boat. The LRDG was eventually disbanded in June 1945. For his leadership in the Balkans, Lloyd Owen was awarded the Distinguished Service Order that year.