Arnold John “Jack” Job

Trooper · NZ #508 · T Patrol · 1939-45 Star, Africa Star (8th Army clasp), War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal

What this roll records

HIS NAME IS SETTLED, AND IT IS ARNOLD JOHN JOB. This card has carried a note that its sources disagreed — Arnold against Arthur — and the photograph on it is filed as “Job, Arthur John”. THE ARNOLD FORM IS RIGHT. The Online Cenotaph gives ARNOLD JOHN JOB, service number 508, born 14 August 1905 at Broken Hill, died 2 November 1977, known as Jack; a search of that database for “Job 508” returns that record and no other, and THERE IS NO ARTHUR JOHN JOB IN THE ONLINE CENOTAPH AT ALL. Tarek el Mahdy’s Murzuk Raid roll gives Arnold John independently, and Ray Porter, writing home in March 1941, gives “Jack Job (508)” — the number exact and the nickname matching the Cenotaph’s. THE PORTRAIT ON THIS CARD, AND WHERE IT CAME FROM. The studio photograph of a young clean-shaven man in a lemon-squeezer hat was contributed by BRENDAN O’CARROLL, the preeminent historian of the Long Range Desert Group, through Tony Moore. It is not an orphan picture: it reaches this roll from the man who has done more work on this unit than anyone, and he identifies the sitter as Job. AND IT VERY LIKELY EXPLAINS THE WHOLE TANGLE. “Arthur John” is the form O’Carroll’s material uses; the name travelled with the photograph, and the file was named from it. That is why this roll held two forenames for one man. The variant is recorded here as a serious authority’s reading rather than struck out, and the Cenotaph is followed for the name. Sources: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, records 88292 (Forbes) and C36002 (Job), searched and read 2 September 2026: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/88292 and https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36002 The London Gazette, 3 August 1944, page 3605.

Patrol "T" (as at 5 Dec 1940) added from LRP Roll. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).

Name discrepancy: the Murzuk Raid roll (Tarek el Mahdy) records him as Arnold John Job (this list has Arthur John), same service no. 508.

Born 14 August 1905 at Broken Hill, NSW, Australia. Aged 72 at death. Buried/commemorated: Karori Cemetery, Wellington (Karori 435H, Public 3). Labourer in civilian life. Embarked/served with 34 Anti-Tank Battery. Known as Jack. Worked as a baker; ashes interred with his sons at Karori Cemetery. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

AWMM records the forenames as “Arnold John”, known as “Jack” (held here as Arthur John Jack) — first name differs (Arthur vs Arnold). Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Labourer in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

HE IS NAMED IN A COMRADE’S LETTER HOME, WITH HIS SERVICE NUMBER. Trooper Ray Porter #14265 photographed a group of them leaning against a truck on the CAIRO–ALEXANDRIA ROAD, MARCH 1941, coming back from GIARABUB, and wrote the names on the back for his mother. Job is third from the left and Porter gives him as “Jack Job (508)” — the number is exact and “Jack” is the name this roll already held for him from a separate source. WHY IT CARRIES WEIGHT: this is not an archivist reading faces years afterwards. It is one of the men in the photograph naming the others, within days, in a letter to his mother, who had no reason to be misled. IT ALSO PLACES HIM AT GIARABUB WITH FORBES #35079 in March 1941, which is the same month and the same patrol as the LRDG collection group photograph. The message on the back, in Porter’s hand: “Dear Mum, This snap was taken on the Cairo-Alexandria road when we were returning from Gierabub, Mar ’41. Reading from left to right: Self [Ray Porter (14265)], Martin Crawford (in background), Jack Job (508), Bill Forbes, Jack Shepherd and Allan Nutt (14550). Love Ray xxx” THE PICTURE IS NOT COPIED ONTO THIS SITE. The museum marks it “this image may be subject to copyright”, so this roll quotes the words and points at the original, exactly as it does with newspapers it cannot licence. It is on the Online Cenotaph record for Job, and you can see it here: https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C36002 Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C36002 (photograph and inscription contributed to that record); read 2 September 2026.

See him in the full roll →

Where this comes from

• AKA added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll (missing information).
• Honours & campaign medals from Online Cenotaph: 1939-45 Star, Africa Star (8th Army clasp), War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
• Murzuk Raid roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
• LRDG Nominal Roll, 28 Dec 1940 – Jan 1941 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy) — roll rank: Gunner
• Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 3, p.240. Also cited: Information kindly provided by family.

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