Leslie Angus “Bluey-Red-Mac” McIver

Trooper · NZ #37404 · T2 Patrol

What this roll records

Aged 30 at death. Captured 13 December 1941; POW at Dulag VIII-A Gorlitz, P.G. 57 Gruppignano and P.G. 65 Altamura; POW serial 33620; died of wounds while a POW. Taxi Driver in civilian life. Embarked/served with Infantry Reinforcements. Son of Murdock and Ann McIver, of Mohaka; commemorated on the Alamein Memorial. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Cenotaph record linked. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Captured in North Africa: T2 Patrol, 22 Nov 1941, Mechili–Derna road. died as PoW, Russia, 16 Feb 1945 (date also annotated 23 Nov 1941). Source: "Names of LRDG NZ personnel captured in North African campaign" (per Brendan O’Carroll).

Prisoner-of-war camp: Stalag VIII-A (code 8A), POW No. 33620. Source: Germany & German-Occupied Territories Imperial POW Alphabetical List, Section 4 (N.Z.), 2NZEF. Transcription via Zenodo (DOI 10.5281/zenodo.3632116, CC BY 4.0).

North Africa — 22 Nov 1941, Mechili–Derna road: died. Transported to Italy on SS Sebastiano Veniero (torpedoed by a British submarine; survived); killed when Stalag VIII-A was liberated by Russian forces, 14 Feb 1945. Source: TRACKS magazine (LRDG Association), Ian Chard, 'Not all were lucky — LRDG missing in North Africa', June 2023.

CWGC: Trooper Leslie Angus McIver, service no. 37404, New Zealand Armoured Corps (Divisional Cavalry Regt) and Long Range Desert Group. Died 14 February 1945, aged 30 (as a prisoner of war). No known grave; commemorated on the Alamein Memorial, Column 100, Egypt. Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

NZ Roll of Honour (Appendix I): PoW 23 Nov 1941; wounded 9 February 1945 in the battle between Russians and Germans; died of wounds while a PoW 16 February 1945. (CWGC records the date of death as 14 February 1945; date shown here follows CWGC.)

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Tpr L. A. McIver — taxi driver; born Wairoa, 22 Feb 1914; taken prisoner 23 Nov 1941; wounded in fighting between German and Russian forces 9 Feb 1945; died while a prisoner of war 16 Feb 1945 (official history; master currently records 14 Feb 1945 — discrepancy to reconcile).

Captured with Captain Hunter’s party near Mechili, November 1941. Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Taxi driver; born Wairoa, 22 Feb 1914. Prisoner of war 23 Nov 1941; died a prisoner, 16 Feb 1945 (wounded 9 Feb 1945 in fighting between German and Russian forces). Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).

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

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).
• Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 3, p.297. Unit history: Loughnan, R. (1963). Divisional Cavalry; Mason, W.W. (1954). Prisoners of war. External links: Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2183927; Germany imperial POW list, section 4 (Zenodo): https://zenodo.org/records/3955186; Italy imperial POW list, section 4 (Zenodo): https://zenodo.org/records/4560909 Also cited: List of 2NZEF Prisoners of War 1941-1945, AWMM Library MS 2009/8; Deaths While Prisoner of War, Archives NZ AAAA 7393 Box 1 (R25405152).

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