Captain Bruce Ballantyne

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Oct 2, 2018
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This photograph is one of a series of official photographs, now held by the Imperial War Museum, that was taken by the No.1 Army Film and Photographic Unit, during WWII that has no additional recorded details.
There were a variety of details that were gleaned from the image itself: that the subject was a New Zealander, as denoted by his cap badge, and the three pips on his shoulders, that he holds the rank of captain.
The short sleeves and the image itself suggest it was taken during the North Africa campaign, while the item in his hands appears to be a Bagnold-type sun compass.
Developed by British officer Ralph Bagnold, a veteran of the Royal Engineers during WW1, he served in Egypt in the mid-1920s and was instrumental in developing desert familiarity and survival techniques in the 1930s. Bagnold was to make the first east-west crossing of the Libyan desert, honing qualities and skills that were to stand British forces in good stead when war broke out a few years later.
Returning to active service, Bagnold formed and served in the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army, in Egypt and Libya during 1940-43. The LRDG made good use of the Bagnold compasses. Additionally, the group were comprised of a range of Allied nationalities, including a number of New Zealanders.
When the colourisation was posted on Facebook, the riddle was solved by Brendan O'Carroll, a LRDG historian in New Zealand, who was able to identify Ballantyne. The original b/w photo had been published in 1949 in Robin Kay's official history of New Zealand in WWII, in his 'Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940-41'.
To read more about O'Carroll's work locating and identifying LRDG vehicles in the Western Desert, there's a great article at Vintage News:
http://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/05/25/ww2-time-warp-long-range-desert-group-vehicle-abandoned-in-the-desert/

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
And what could be a handsome Canadian shape pipe, keeping it in the Commonwealth. Welcome.

 
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