FBHVC member club receives prestigious award
Published: 26/09/2023
A Federation member club has been presented with a prestigious award by the HRH The Princess Royal at the Restoration Awards 2023.
The High Blantyre, South Lanarkshire-based volunteer group - the Western Desert Recce Group (WDRG) - was presented with the award for the restoration of a Long Range Desert Group Chevrolet truck. It was kitted out exactly as was the case in the western desert by the LRDG medical officer, Doctor Richard Lawson.
Major (Retd) Gary Wallace of the WDRG is pictured being presented with the award by the Princess Royal.
The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) operated during the Second World War behind Italian/ German lines in the Egyptian desert. Observers may have seen them in the role of “taxis”, in the recent fanciful BBC show SAS Rogue Heroes.
They were much more than that. They were involved in significant intelligence operations and were responsible for creating logistical bases for other irregular operations, such as the SAS. The LRDG was operating well before Col. Stirling and his merry men started their adventures.
In 1941 the LRDG recruited Dr Richard Pike Lawson MB MC MID of the RAMC as its Medical Officer. Dr Lawson seems to have been a man of significant resource. He realised that, for him to perform his task, he and his medical orderlies needed to accompany the active members on their operations. LRDG thus needed to possess a mobile consulting room/casualty station.
This was created entirely by Dr Lawson and his orderlies, mainly through begging, borrowing and stealing suitable materials and building them into a 15cwt Chevrolet CMP truck (although not the vehicle used here, which itself is a very rare Indian Army model). The assembly was demountable and could be used in a tent.
The WDRG is a Scottish charity run by veterans for veterans and was founded in 2008 by Maj (Retd) Gary Wallace. It has two interrelated functions
- To celebrate the exploits of the Light Car Patrols (LCP) in WW1 and of its successor Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) in WW2
- To support ex-servicemen who have disabilities, both physical and mental.
They visit events and shows to display the vehicles and roleplay their occupants. Maj Wallace has headed up the truck restoration, assisted by a group of volunteers.
The primary creator of the medical outfit is Tam Wallace (no relation of Maj Wallace).
The WDRG also carry out curricular related talks to Schools and Youth Groups. The restoration and equipping of this showpiece, based on the painstaking notes of Dr Lawson, now held by the Imperial War Museum, is a fitting tribute to a remarkable organisation, and it has provided hours of entertainment for its service veteran volunteers. As such, it is a very worthy recipient of a Restoration Award
