More slightly off-topic themes - this time it's the Pharaohs' Rally, but the author has made mention of the Long Range Desert Group who are certainly an important and intriguing part of Egypt's modern war time history. Here's an extract:
The Egyptians of course invented many things including religion, cosmetics and the hand shake, but I bet you didn’t know they invented desert four wheel-driving.
That is to say, desert four wheel-driving was invented in Egypt, more or less that is, during the 1940s by the Long Range Desert Group; a British and Commonwealth army unit fighting the Italians and Germans.
The Long Range Desert Group pioneered the use of wide flat tires in soft sand, spare fuel, improved suspension, plenty of spare tires and sand mats to enable bogged vehicles to gain traction and get going.
The Long Range Desert Group also had mounted machine guns on their Chevrolet trucks, which may again become standard equipment given the recent hostage crisis on the Sudanese border.
One of the Long Range Desert Groups first missions took them 4,000 km into Chad and back to Cairo via Gilf Kebir, though that was back in the days when the ‘good’ guys had the guns and tourism was a train journey to hear yodelling in the Swiss Alps.
Nice to see the Gilf Kebir back in the news for a more positive reason.
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