Margot Saunders, daughter of Nick Wilder, is seeking to incorporate New Zealand kauri or kauri gum into a new memorial sculpture for the elite unit.
The project, designed by James Doran-Webb, commemorates the pioneers of modern special forces warfare who served during the Second World War.
The proposal for a Kiwi-centric element in the memorial comes as the final living links to the unit, such as veteran Jack Mann, have passed away. For families of the men who served, the sculpture represents a final opportunity to cement the legacy of a group that operated in the shadows of the North African and European campaigns, NZ Herald reported.
The LRDG was formed in 1940 with a core of New Zealand soldiers, whose rugged independence and mechanical aptitude were highly valued by British desert explorer Major Ralph Bagnold.
These soldiers were drawn from rural backgrounds, often farmers who possessed the resourcefulness required to survive and endure the unforgiving desert environment. Their navigational expertise proved vital for the British Special Air Service (SAS), which relied on the LRDG to transport and guide them behind enemy lines.
The unit’s influence on modern military doctrine continues. As Auckland military historian Brendan O’Carroll noted, the LRDG is widely recognized as a forerunner to the New Zealand SAS.
O’Carroll, who has spent over 25 years researching the unit, credits a New Zealand soldier, Claude Olaf “Bluey” Grimsey, with designing the unit’s iconic scorpion badge. The scorpion was chosen because the unit operated in silence like a predator, but possessed a lethal “sting in its tail” if discovered.
The LRDG’s emphasis on egalitarian leadership and mechanical self-reliance remains a subject of study.
The unit’s ability to gather intelligence undetected provided the British military with a critical edge during the most precarious stages of the war.
| Milestone | Year | Strategic Context |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Formation | 1940 | Pioneering desert navigation and reconnaissance. |
| Wilder Command | 1961–1970 | Formalizing the LRDG link to the NZSAS. |
Campaign Leads Memorial with Kauri
The campaign for the memorial is being led by the LRDG Memorial Fund, with Meg Kennedy Shaw—daughter of the unit’s former intelligence officer Bill Kennedy Shaw—serving as a key figure. The design features a three-metre stainless-steel ring marked with compass bearings, reflecting the unit's ability to travel through the desert, while the plinth will document the LRDG’s operations from North Africa to the Balkans.
“I thought, there's a massive contribution from New Zealand here. There should be some kauri in there,” Margot Saunders told the NZ Herald. For Margot Saunders, the inclusion of kauri—a symbol of New Zealand's rugged landscape—is a matter of historical accuracy.
She learned of the memorial through Brendan O'Carroll and subsequently reached out to Kennedy Shaw to propose the addition. “I thought, there’s a massive contribution from New Zealand here. There should be some kauri in there,” Saunders told the NZ Herald.
The silence surrounding the LRDG’s wartime exploits, which Saunders experienced firsthand while growing up, was common among veterans of the unit. This culture of secrecy, while necessary during the war, often left families with little knowledge of their relatives’ contributions.
As the project moves forward, the focus remains on balancing the aesthetic of the driftwood scorpion with the inclusion of materials that ground the sculpture in its New Zealand origins. “I think they would be very honoured to see this tribute to them and their mates. The LRDG hasn’t been acknowledged like that before,” O’Carroll said.
With the final veteran having passed, the push for the memorial is now a race against time to solidify the history of these men before the living memory fades entirely.
