Kenneth Emanuel “Ken; Knudson” Knudsen

Private · NZ #74685 · R1 Patrol

What this roll records

DUPLICATE RECORD MERGED (2026). The roll held this man twice — once with his service number and once without it, under a variant spelling of the surname. The entry with no number could not be caught by the shared-number test that found the earlier duplicates, nor by the photograph test, because it had neither. It was found by asking whether the roll already held him with a number. This card is the survivor; the discarded entry read “Knudson, K.E.”. THE INITIALS ARE THE NAME: K.E. is Kenneth Emanuel exactly, and Knudson against Knudsen is the commonest of Scandinavian spelling splits. R1 Patrol comes across from the discarded entry. ONE THING DOES NOT AGREE AND IS RECORDED RATHER THAN RESOLVED: this card gives his rank as Private, the discarded entry gave it as Gunner. Both are on the roll’s own authority and neither has been preferred here.

Cenotaph-verified 27 Jul 2026 (record link added).

Apprentice fibrous plasterer in civilian life. Embarked/served with N.Z. Medical Corps. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Full name Kenneth Emanuel (also recorded as “Emanual…”). Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

The prefix NZ has been added to his service number, on the authority of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph record already linked on this card — the Museum holds him as a New Zealand service person. The digits are unchanged. This roll formerly left the number unmarked, which made it look like a British number to anyone reading the field rather than the card.

New Zealand (A) Squadron, LRDG — R1 Patrol at disbandment, 10 December 1943. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean’ (Appendix IV, New Zealand (A) Squadron Disbandment Roll, 10 December 1943).

See him in the full roll →

Where this comes from

• AKA added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll (missing information).
• Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 7, p.80; No. 12, p.108. Unit history: McKinney, J. (1952). Medical units of 2NZEF in Middle East and Italy.
• Listed in the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll.

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