‹ Long Range Desert Group — Roll of Members

Lionel R. “Tanky, Tankie” Babb

Trooper · Y Patrol

RankTrooper
PatrolY Patrol
RegimentRoyal Tank Regiment
Known as“Tanky, Tankie”

What this roll records

THIS CARD NOW CARRIES A SECOND RECORD THAT WAS THE SAME MAN. The roll held a separate entry reading simply "Babb, Tankie", Trooper, with no service number, no patrol, no regiment and no notes - nothing but the photograph now shown here. THIS CARD ALREADY HELD THE NICKNAME "Tanky", from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll, and he served in the ROYAL TANK REGIMENT, which is where the name came from. The second entry was that nickname, spelt with an -ie, filed as though it were a forename. The two records were combined on 3 September 2026 and the nickname is kept in both spellings above.

March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)

North Africa — 26 Jan 1942, Msus: evaded capture. One of seven who escaped at Msus. Source: TRACKS magazine (LRDG Association), Ian Chard, 'Not all were lucky — LRDG missing in North Africa', June 2023.

See him in the full roll →

Where this comes from

In collaboration withThe Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) Preservation SocietyTo add information about this man, or note a correction, please post in the Society’s Facebook Group →

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