Walter Russell “Wink” Adams
Corporal · NZ #1074 · T Patrol
| Rank | Corporal |
|---|---|
| Service number | NZ #1074 |
| Patrol | T Patrol |
| Regiment | 2nd NZ Divisional Cavalry Regiment |
| Role | Mechanic, Driver |
| Known as | “Wink” |
| Born | 1918-08-01 |
| Died | 1984-04-30 |
| POW / KIA | POW — captured Gebel Sherif, 31 Jan 1941 |
| Record | https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C133974 |
What this roll records
HE IS THE “WINKIE EVANS” OF THE 1943 INTERVIEW, AND THIS CLOSES A QUESTION THIS SITE HAD LEFT OPEN. The Northern Advocate of 15 JULY 1943, interviewing Staff-Sergeant G. L. Davison of Whangarei on furlough, ended by calling him the sole survivor of THREE NORTHLANDERS in the Group: “‘Winkie’ Evans of Whangarei was taken prisoner and Sergeant Ian McInnes, M.M., was killed in action.” This roll checked five men named Evans against that sentence and none fitted. THE ANSWER WAS NEVER AN EVANS: the paper put the wrong surname to the right nickname, and the man is WINK ADAMS. EVERY PART OF THE SENTENCE FITS THIS CARD. The nickname — the same newspaper called him “L/Cpl W. R. (‘Wink’) Adams of Whangarei” on 19 May 1945. The town — Whangarei, from four sources here. “Taken prisoner” — Gebel Sherif, 31 January 1941, Stalag VIII-A, PoW no. 32146, released 1945. And the three Northlanders are Davison, Adams and McInnes. Confirmed by Tony Moore, 3 September 2026.
On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): T — Dvr T Patrol & storeman HQ; PW captured Gebel Sherif. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).
Captured in North Africa: T Patrol, 31 Jan 1941, Jebel Sherif. Source: "Names of LRDG NZ personnel captured in North African campaign" (per Brendan O’Carroll).
Prisoner-of-war camp: Stalag VIII-A (code 8A), POW No. 32146. Source: Germany & German-Occupied Territories Imperial POW Alphabetical List, Section 4 (N.Z.), 2NZEF. Transcription via Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3632116, CC BY 4.0).
Capture-date note: Imperial POW roll records capture as 1 Feb 1941 — one day after the 31 Jan 1941 Jebel Sherif action. Master retains 31 Jan 1941. Source: 2NZEF Imperial POW rolls (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).
North Africa — 31 Jan 1941, Jebel Sherif: prisoner of war. Saw out the war in enemy detention. Source: TRACKS magazine (LRDG Association), Ian Chard, 'Not all were lucky — LRDG missing in North Africa', June 2023.
Deeper background (2026): Adams carried a cine-camera on operations. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision holds three short reels of silent film he shot during the LRDG's Fezzan campaign, including the January 1941 rendezvous with the Free French force from Chad under Lt-Col d'Ornano; he is remembered by the nickname “Wink.” Source: Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/explore-stories/stories/sound/voices-of-the-long-range-desert-group-part-2/
Press: the Evening Post of 10 February 1941, “Roll of Honour — Western Desert Casualties,” listed “Trooper Walter Russell Adams — prisoner of war”, alongside Tpr R. J. Moore and L/Cpl L. Roderick of the patrol. Source: Papers Past, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19410210.2.71
Prisoner of war: captured 1 February 1941 in Libya (T Patrol, in the Gebel Sherif action). Held at Dulag VIII-A, Goerlitz, Germany, and at P.G. 78, Sulmona, Italy (POW serial no. 32146); released in Germany, 1945. Served with the LRDG as a mechanic/driver. Family memory (from his grandson): he had 7 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Sources: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph; family.
The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): L-Cpl W. R. Adams — salesman, Whangarei; born Auckland, 1 Aug 1918; taken prisoner 31 Jan 1941.
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision (New Zealand Archive of Film, Television and Sound) — archival material: https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F80266/ https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F80263/ https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/F80261/
One of Clayton’s two New Zealand companions captured with him at Gebel Sherif, 31 January 1941. Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
Salesman, of Whangarei; born Auckland, 1 Aug 1918. Prisoner of war, 31 Jan 1941. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).
L-Cpl W. R. Adams; salesman, of Whangarei; born Auckland, 1 Aug 1918; p.w. 31 Jan 1941. Source: Divisional Cavalry (NZ official war history).
Salesman in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as Trooper, 2nd Divisional Cavalry Regiment. The rank held on this card, Corporal, is his LRDG rank; promotion after embarkation was the rule rather than the exception, so the two are not in conflict. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C133974.
THE FILM HE SHOT CAN NOW BE WATCHED. The three reels recorded above, held by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, have been published on YouTube by the channel “Special Forces in World War 2”, which credits them to “Trooper W.R. Adams (Service No. 1074) of Whangarei” — his number and his town. THE COUNT CORROBORATES IT: three reels in the archive, three films online — the meeting with the Free French from Chad at Zouar, the Murzuk, Traghen and Tibesti operations, and the Fezzan campaign, all December 1940 to January 1941. They are silent, and they are listed on the Videos page of this site. He was taken prisoner at Gebel Sherif on 31 January 1941, within weeks of shooting them. Source: YouTube, “Special Forces in World War 2”, checked 26 August 2026.
NAMED IN PRINT AS ONE OF THE FIRST PRISONERS TAKEN IN THE DESERT. The Northern Advocate of 19 May 1945, reporting the safe arrival in England of L/Cpl W. R. (“Wink”) Adams of Whangarei after more than four years in enemy hands: Adams “left New Zealand with the First Echelon and was taken prisoner on February 1, 1941. He was attached as a driver to the Long Range Desert Group, and, with Major Clayton, of England, and Pte. Roderick, of Nelson, was one of the first prisoners taken in the desert.” THREE MEN OF THIS ROLL IN ONE SENTENCE - Adams NZ #1074, Major P. A. Clayton #147264 and L/Cpl L. D. Roderick NZ #1113 - reckoned together by a provincial paper four years after the event. Source: Northern Advocate, 19 May 1945, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- Murzuk Raid roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
- LRDG Nominal Roll, 28 Dec 1940 – Jan 1941 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy) — roll rank: Trooper
- Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 1, p.5. Unit history: Loughnan, R. (1963). Divisional Cavalry; Mason, W.W. (1954). Prisoners of war; O'Carroll, B. (2005). Barce Raid: the Long Range Desert Group's greatest escapade. External links: Germany imperial POW list, section 4 (Zenodo): https://zenodo.org/records/3955186; Italy imperial POW list, section 4 (Zenodo): https://zenodo.org/records/4560909 Also cited: List of 2NZEF Prisoners of War 1941-1945, AWMM Library MS 2009/8; Family information (grandson's tribute).
This page is part of the Long Range Desert Group roll of members at lrdgarchive.org. If you hold rights to anything on it and would like it credited differently, or taken down, please see Sources and Copyright. It will be dealt with promptly.
Not By Strength But By Guile