Raymond Thomas “Ray; also recorded as Raymond Thomson” Porter

Lance Corporal · NZ #14265 · T2 Patrol · War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal, Coronation Medal

What this roll records

HE TOOK THE PHOTOGRAPH, AND HE WROTE ON THE BACK OF IT WHO EVERYONE WAS. A snapshot of the men leaning against a truck on the CAIRO–ALEXANDRIA ROAD, MARCH 1941, coming back from GIARABUB. Porter is the man on the left, and he lists himself first as “Self”. 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. FIVE OF THE SIX MEN HE NAMES ARE ON THIS ROLL. 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.

Captured in North Africa: T2 Patrol, 22 Nov 1941, Mechili–Derna road. Source: "Names of LRDG NZ personnel captured in North African campaign" (per Brendan O’Carroll).

Prisoner-of-war camp: Oflag V-A (code O5A), POW No. 28527/13. 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).

Capture-date DISCREPANCY (for review): Imperial POW roll records capture as 13 Dec 1941, differing from master 22 Nov 1941 (Mechili–Derna road). Source: 2NZEF Imperial POW rolls (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).

North Africa — 22 Nov 1941, Mechili–Derna road: prisoner of war. Surprised by Italian troops with Kendall and McIver; spent the rest of the war behind wire. Source: TRACKS magazine (LRDG Association), Ian Chard, 'Not all were lucky — LRDG missing in North Africa', June 2023.

Capture date confirmed by TRACKS (Ian Chard), resolving the earlier Imperial-roll discrepancy.

DATA FLAG: this record is held here as "Raymond Thomas Porter" but the linked AWMM record for service #4787 is "Francis Robert (Frank) Porter" — a 2nd Lieutenant of 19 Infantry Battalion, POW 1941-45 (Oflag V-A / P.G. 47 Modena), born 24 May 1918 Gisborne, died 24 Nov 1988 (Hastings Cemetery). Frank was held POW alongside his brother Ray Porter — so the name/record may be conflated between the two brothers. Needs review before applying. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Incorrect Cenotaph link removed from the card to avoid misdirecting visitors. The wrong link pointed to record C136837 (Francis Robert Porter, #4787). Find and attach the correct Online Cenotaph record for this man.

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): L-Cpl R. T. Porter — clerk, Whangarei; born NZ, 3 Nov 1915; taken prisoner 22 Nov 1941.

While on picket duty with T2 patrol watching the Mechili–Derna road, captured by an Italian reconnaissance patrol, 22 November 1941. Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Clerk, of Whangarei; born NZ, 3 Nov 1915. Prisoner of war, 22 Nov 1941. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).

Clerk, enlisted aged 24 in civilian life; after the war, clerk, then company executive. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

He died on 19 December 1985, aged 70, and was cremated. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C35900.

His Online Cenotaph record has been found and attached: record C35900, which matches this card on service number 14265 and on his birth on 3 November 1915. It states his service in terms almost no other record does — “22 Nov 1941 – 29 April 1945 ~ ROAD WATCHING, LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP” — and so settles the question left open on this card when the earlier, wrong link (C136837, Francis Robert Porter, #4787) was removed. One caution: the record spells him Raymond THOMSON where this roll holds Raymond Thomas. The roll’s form is kept and the variant recorded in the AKA field. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C35900.

Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as Private, 2nd Divisional Cavalry Regiment; vessel Dominion Monarch. The rank held on this card, Lance Corporal, is his LRDG rank; promotion after embarkation was the rule rather than the exception, so the two are not in conflict. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C35900.

Prisoner of war: besides Oflag V-A at Weinsberg, already recorded here, his Cenotaph record names two further camps — P.G. 35 at Padula in Italy, and Stalag VII-A at Moosburg in Germany. The capture date it gives, 13 December 1941, is the Imperial POW roll figure this card has already resolved in favour of 22 November 1941 on the evidence of TRACKS; that resolution stands. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C35900.

This card gives him as known as Ray; the collection’s photograph of him is captioned “Roy Porter T Patrol”. Ray and Roy are both short for Raymond and the two forms are recorded here rather than one being chosen over the other. Source: the photograph itself, in the collection’s master folder.

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).
• Honours & campaign medals from Online Cenotaph: War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal, Coronation Medal. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

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