Ronald Owen “Spottie” Spotswood
Sergeant · NZ #7748 · R1 Patrol · MID
| Rank | Sergeant |
|---|---|
| Service number | NZ #7748 |
| Patrol | R1 Patrol |
| Regiment | 27th (Machine Gun) Battalion |
| Known as | “Spottie” |
| Born | 1914-01-08 |
| Died | 1944-05-04 |
| Honours | MID |
| Campaign medals | War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal |
| POW / KIA | Killed on active service in Italy (buried Cassino War Cemetery, Italy (X. K. 17.)) |
| Record | https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C26421 |
What this roll records
A difference of category worth recording. This card gives him as KILLED IN ACTION in Italy on 4 May 1944, which is what both Brendan O’Carroll and the official history say, and that reading stands. The Auckland War Memorial Museum instead classes his death as KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE — a category that usually means a death not caused by enemy action. The Museum’s categories are the coarser of the two and no detail is given behind it, so the difference is noted here rather than acted on. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C26421.
MID per W.B. Kennedy Shaw, "Long Range Desert Group" appendices. ("Spottswood, Pte. R.O."; sheet spelling Spotswood).
March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy)
Added from LRP Roll: Gnr R Patrol; Tp Ldr R1 Patrol LRDG; returned to unit. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).
Merged with duplicate “Spottiswood” record; correct surname is Spotswood. Source: Brendan O’Carroll.
On the R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941: Private Spotswood R.O., 7748. Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941).
Aged 30 at death. Buried/commemorated: Cassino War Cemetery, Italy (X. K. 17.). Plumber in civilian life. Embarked/served with 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion. Son of William and Fanny Spotswood; husband of Violet Jean Spotswood, of Wellington. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Sgt R. O. Spotswood — plumber; born Carterton, 8 Jan 1914; killed in action, Italy, 4 May 1944.
One of the five New Zealanders on Clayton’s first reconnaissance into Libya (1940). Manned the machine gun in Captain Easonsmith’s truck during the Mechili ambush (October 1941). Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).
Plumber; born Carterton, 8 Jan 1914. m.i.d. Killed in action, Italy, 4 May 1944. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).
See him in the full roll →Where this comes from
- Missing info added from the LRDG Preservation Society’s Troopers roll.
- Honours & campaign medals from Online Cenotaph: MID, War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.
- LRDG Nominal Roll, 28 Dec 1940 – Jan 1941 (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy) — roll rank: Private
- Additional sources (AWMM Online Cenotaph). Nominal Roll 2NZEF No. 1, p.171; No. 13, p.117. Unit history: Kay, R. (1958). 27 (Machine Gun) Battalion. External links: Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2612970
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