Richard P. “Phillip” Carr
Captain · #901212 · HQ Patrol
| Rank | Captain |
|---|---|
| Service number | #901212 |
| Patrol | HQ Patrol |
| Regiment | Royal Artillery |
| Known as | “Phillip” |
| POW / KIA | POW — 26 Jan 1942 |
What this roll records
HE WAS APPOINTED MBE, AND THIS CARD DID NOT SAY SO. The recommendation survives at The National Archives, Kew, as WO 373/100/957: “Carr, Richard Philip. Rank: Captain. Service No: 901212. Regiment: Long Range Desert Group Royal Artillery. Theatre of Combat or Operation: The London Omnibus List For Gallant and Distinguished Services in the Field. Award: Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. Date of announcement in London Gazette: 21 February 1946.” *** AND IT SETTLES HIS SERVICE NUMBER, IN THIS ROLL’S FAVOUR. *** The note above records that the Commando Veterans Association gives his number as 90121, one digit short of the 901212 held here, so that identification rested on name, rank, regiment and capture date rather than on the number. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES GIVES 901212 — this roll’s figure, against his name, his rank and the Long Range Desert Group. The doubt can come off. A SEPARATE MATTER LEFT OPEN DELIBERATELY: this card twice records him as holding the MILITARY CROSS — from the LRDG Unit Casualty Returns and from the Commando Veterans Association, who date it to Dunkirk — and the honours field still does not carry it. THAT WAS PUT TO THE ROLL KEEPER ON 26 AUGUST 2026 AND HE DECIDED IT SHOULD STAND: the honours field now reads MC, MBE. The MC rests on the two sources already cited on this card — the LRDG Unit Casualty Returns, which give him as “Capt., M.C., R.A.”, and the Commando Veterans Association, who date it to gallantry at Dunkirk as a Second Lieutenant and cite London Gazette issue 34931, page 5201. It is NOT from the WO 373 file, which concerns the MBE alone, and no WO 373 recommendation for the MC has been looked for. The MBE citation itself has not been read either. Source: The National Archives, Discovery catalogue, WO 373/100/957.
Joined Sep 1941 (Capt., M.C., R.A.; Adjutant). P.O.W. 26 Jan 1942. LRDG Unit Casualty Returns (A.F. 3010), Appendix 3 officers list (source: Brendan O'Carroll).
North Africa — 26 Jan 1942, Msus: prisoner of war. LRDG Adjutant, MC; led 7 trucks/14 men to collect petrol from Msus (occupied by Germans) and the party was captured. Source: TRACKS magazine (LRDG Association), Ian Chard, 'Not all were lucky — LRDG missing in North Africa', June 2023.
Deeper background (2026): the Commando Veterans Association records Captain Richard Philip Carr, Royal Artillery, attached 11 Commando, who won his Military Cross as a Second Lieutenant for gallantry at Dunkirk (London Gazette issue 34931, p. 5201) and was appointed MBE in January 1946 (issue 37450, p. 749) in recognition of repeated attempts to escape while a prisoner. Captured early in 1942, prisoner number 3409/12, held at Oflag V and later at Oflag 79, Braunschweig. Their page gives his service number as 90121, one digit short of the 901212 recorded here, so the identification rests on name, rank, regiment and capture date rather than on the number. Sources: Commando Veterans Association; The London Gazette, https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/37450/supplement/749
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- Missing info added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll.
- AKA added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll (missing information).
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