Trooper · #7886985 · M2 Patrol
| Rank | Trooper |
|---|---|
| Service number | #7886985 |
| Patrol | M2 Patrol |
| POW / KIA | PoW — Dodecanese, 23 Oct 1943 |
AN UNRESOLVED DATE, FLAGGED RATHER THAN GUESSED. This card carries two notes citing the same source, Jim Patch’s Appendix V, and THEY DISAGREE WITH EACH OTHER: one gives 23 November 1943 and the other 23 OCTOBER 1943. The status field shows 23 November because that is what was entered first, not because it has been verified. A photograph of the relevant page of the appendix would settle it in a moment, and until one is seen this roll will not choose between them. Source: Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA (Appendix V), compiled by Jim Patch, the late secretary of the LRDG (UK) Association, printed in Brendan O’Carroll, “The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean”. NOTE: BYATT, #6918661, HAD EXACTLY THIS SPLIT — 23 November against 23 October — and the photographed page proved the OCTOBER reading correct. That is a reason to check this one, not a reason to assume it.
Dodecanese operations, 1943: prisoner of war 23 Nov 1943. Source: Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA (Appendix V), compiled by Jim Patch, LRDG (UK) Association.
Aegean/Dodecanese operations, 1943: listed as Trooper Harding, service no. 7886985; taken prisoner of war, 23 Oct 1943. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean’ (Appendix V, Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA).
THE FLAG ON THIS CARD IS NOW CLEARED, AND THE DATE WAS WRONG. This card carried a note saying two of its own sources disagreed — 23 November against 23 October — and that the roll would not choose between them until the page was seen. The page has been seen: Appendix V reads “Harding — Tpr. T.D. — 7886985 — 23 Oct”. HE WAS TAKEN ON 23 OCTOBER 1943, a month before Leros fell, and the status field has been corrected from November to October. This is the same fault that was found in BYATT, #6918661 — an October line read as November — and it is the second of the two men whose cards were flagged for it. Source: Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA (Appendix V), compiled by Jim Patch, the late secretary of the LRDG (UK) Association, printed in Brendan O’Carroll, “The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean”, pages 303–305, photographed 2 September 2026.
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Not By Strength But By Guile