John Richard “Uncle John; also recorded as John R.” Olivey
Captain · #170243 / X170243 · S2 Patrol · MC & Bar
| Rank | Captain |
|---|---|
| Service number | #170243 / X170243 |
| Patrol | S2 Patrol |
| Regiment | Sherwood Foresters |
| Known as | “Uncle John; also recorded as John R.” |
| Honours | MC & Bar |
| POW / KIA | PoW — Dodecanese, 18 Nov 1943 |
What this roll records
London Gazette entries found under 170243. 20 January 1942, Supplement 35429, p.393: “Second-Lieutenant John Richard Olivey (170243), The Sherwood Foresters”. 2 June 1944, Supplement 36548, p.2683: “Lieutenant (temporary Captain) John Richard Olivey, M.C. (170243), The Sherwood Foresters”. 18 January 1946, Supplement 37439, p.575: “Lt. J. R. OLIVEY, M.C. (170243)”, relinquishing his commission. They give his forenames in full and confirm against his number the Sherwood Foresters attribution this card already had from O’Carroll. The January 1942 entry has him still a Second-Lieutenant, which fits this card’s own account of his commanding S2 in the Maraua road ambush of 29 November 1941 as a Second-Lieutenant. Source: The London Gazette.
PATROL COMMANDER of S1/S2 per W.B. Kennedy Shaw, "Long Range Desert Group", Appendix 4 Patrol Commanders.
Additional service number(s) from Rhodesia roll: X170243. Source: Rhodesia Nominal Roll (Brendan O’Carroll).
March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): CO S2 Patrol
Dodecanese operations, 1943: prisoner of war 18 Nov 1943. Source: Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA (Appendix V), compiled by Jim Patch, LRDG (UK) Association.
The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Capt. J. R. Olivey, MC — Sherwood Foresters; patrol commander LRDG.
Sting of the Scorpion (Brendan O'Carroll) — the assault on Levita: Levita, 23–24 Oct 1943: commanded Olforce (48 men), landing unopposed with his B Squadron group at 2200hrs; by the end of the day his squadron was encircled and most of his men captured.
Commanded the forty-eight-man LRDG force in the assault on Levita (23–24 October 1943); afterwards among the handful who reached the evacuation rendezvous, and returned the next night to search for the missing. On Leros held out on Mount Clidi, sending his last message — ‘Germans here’ — at 3 p.m. on 13 November. Source: ‘Invasion of the Dodecanese Islands’ (Battle of Leros / Assault on Levita), Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
Sherwood Foresters. MC. Patrol commander LRDG. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).
As Second-Lieutenant commanded S2 patrol in the Maraua road ambush with R2 (29 November 1941), destroying a column of enemy transport without loss; awarded the MC. Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
Aegean/Dodecanese operations, 1943: listed as Captain Olivey, service no. 170243; taken prisoner of war, 18 Nov 1943. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean’ (Appendix V, Roll of British & Rhodesian PoW and KIA).
A NOTE ON THE BAR. This card’s honours field reads “MC & Bar”. The three London Gazette entries above span 1942 to 1946 and every one of them styles him “M.C.” with no Bar, the last of them in January 1946. O’Carroll gives him plain M.C., and so does the Episodes & Studies note on this card. The Bar has no visible support in any source reached so far. The honours field has been left exactly as it stands, and this note records the state of the evidence. Source: The London Gazette.
Checked (2026): The Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph holds no record for him. This was run as a deliberate control: he is a known British officer of the Group, so a negative here confirms the search was working rather than failing. Recorded so the search is not repeated.
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).
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Not By Strength But By Guile