Walter Henry “Wally” Rail

Sergeant · NZ #1262 · T1 Patrol

What this roll records

Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as Trooper. The rank held on this card, Sergeant, 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 C129707.

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

Barce Raid, Sept 1942 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): Gunner — Picked up by S2

Aged 90 at death. Farm hand in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Full name Walter Henry; known as Wally. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Took part in the Barce Raid with T1 Patrol, 13/14 September 1942. The patrol was largely captured; he was taken prisoner of war. Source: Brendan O’Carroll, ‘The Kiwi Scorpions’ (Appendix VIII, T1 Patrol members who took part in the Barce Raid, September 1942).

Farm hand 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. 1, p.149. Unit history: Loughnan, R. (1963). Divisional Cavalry. Also cited: Death notice, New Zealand Herald, 18 January 2007.

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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