James Edward “Jim” Gill

Corporal · NZ #29657 · R2 Patrol

What this roll records

The roll formerly carried this man twice — as Corporal James Edward Gill, NZ #35836, and as Private J. E. Gill, NZ #29657 — and this card had long noted the possibility. They were merged in August 2026 on three pieces of evidence. His Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record, 151025, stands against service number 29657 and is in the name of JAMES EDWARD GILL. A search of the Cenotaph for 35836 returns two men and neither is a Gill: Archibald Francis Roy McAlley of the First World War and James Philip Thurston of the Second, so that number appears to belong to another soldier altogether. And Brendan O’Carroll’s “The Kiwi Scorpions” carries one Corporal J. E. Gill, not two. The number carried here is therefore now NZ #29657; the superseded figure, 35836, is recorded in this note so that anyone who knows him by it still finds him. His rank is given as Corporal, the rank O’Carroll and the Levitha roll give him in 1943, where the R Patrol Nominal Roll of March 1941 had him a Private.

New Zealand (A) Squadron, Levitha (24 Oct 1943): prisoner of war. Source: Roll of New Zealand (A) Squadron Casualties on Levitha, Brendan O’Carroll, "The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean".

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Cpl J. E. Gill — contractor, Matamata; born NZ, 1 Jul 1912; prisoner of war 29 Oct 1943. (Also appears in the roll as Pte J. E. Gill, NZ #29657 — possibly the same man, to reconcile.)

Sting of the Scorpion (Brendan O'Carroll) — the assault on Levita: Levita, 23–24 Oct 1943: gave about 10 minutes' radio instruction before the signaller left; led a smaller third party on the ridge and, with three others, hid for four days before, exhausted and without water, being forced to surrender.

New Zealanders in the Levita action, 24 October 1943: taken prisoner of war. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Kiwi Scorpions’ (Appendix IX, New Zealanders in the Levita action).

Added from the R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941: Private J.E. Gill, #29657, Fitter, R Patrol. Distinct from Gill, James (row 500, #35836, Levitha 1943). Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941).

With R2 patrol near Gialo (September 1942); injured, with Sergeant Willcox, when a truck crashed over a sand dune on the way back to Kufra. Source: ‘Raids Behind the Enemy Lines’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Held the third A Squadron position on high ground at Levita (October 1943); with three men avoided capture for four days among the rocks before, without food or water, they had to surrender. Source: ‘Invasion of the Dodecanese Islands’ (Battle of Leros / Assault on Levita), Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Contractor, of Matamata; born NZ, 1 Jul 1912. Prisoner of war, 29 Oct 1943. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).

Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as Private, Infantry Reinforcements, Nominal Roll 3 p. 172, Third Echelon. This agrees with the rank held on this card. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record 151025.

Prisoner of war: his Cenotaph record gives his capture as 25 October 1943 at Levitha and names his camp as Stalag 357 (No. 2) at Thorn (Toruń), in occupied Poland. The 29 October 1943 date already held on this card is not in conflict with it: as the account above records, he and three others avoided capture among the rocks for four days after the island fell before hunger and thirst forced them to surrender. The island fell on the 25th; he was taken on the 29th. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record 151025.

The Cenotaph record for this service number gives his forenames in full as JAMES EDWARD — which is the name this roll already carries against Corporal J. E. Gill, NZ #35836. The two cards hold the same life in almost every particular: a contractor of Matamata, born 1 July 1912, taken prisoner on Levitha in October 1943. The #35836 card already raises it, noting that he “also appears in the roll as Pte J. E. Gill, NZ #29657 — possibly the same man”. The full forenames have deliberately NOT been written into this record, because doing so would leave two identically named men on the roll. Whether these are one man or two is an open question. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record 151025.

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).

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 →

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Not By Strength But By Guile