‹ Long Range Desert Group — Roll of Members

James Henderson “Jim, Sahara” Sutherland

Lieutenant · NZ #1013 · R (LRP) · MC

James Henderson “Jim, Sahara” Sutherland
RankLieutenant
Service numberNZ #1013
PatrolR (LRP)
Regiment2nd NZ Divisional Cavalry Regiment
Known as“Jim, Sahara”
Born1903-12-10
HonoursMC
Campaign medalsWar Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal
Recordhttps://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C142043

What this roll records

HE COMMANDED B SQUADRON OF THE DIVISIONAL CAVALRY AS A MAJOR IN JULY 1942, AND A NEWSPAPER DESCRIBED HIM WITHOUT NAMING HIM. The Marlborough Express of 21 July 1942, reporting the Ruweisat fighting, says a Honey tank squadron “was commanded by A MAJOR FROM OTAGO, WHO WAS AWARDED THE MILITARY CROSS WHEN HE WAS WITH THE LONG RANGE DESERT GROUP”, and names no one. R. J. M. Loughnan’s official history “Divisional Cavalry”, chapter 12, prints the regiment’s appointments for that period: “OC A Squadron Maj H. A. Robinson, MC — OC B Squadron MAJ J. H. SUTHERLAND, MC — OC C Squadron Maj I. L. Bonifant”, under Lt-Col A. J. Nicoll. TWO THINGS FOLLOW. FIRST, THE RANK ON THIS CARD IS REFINED, NOT CORRECTED: the card records him as CO of 2 NZ Divisional Cavalry in 1942-43, and that stands — but in JULY 1942 he was a MAJOR COMMANDING B SQUADRON, and took the regiment later in the year. SECOND, THE NEWSPAPER’S UNNAMED OFFICER CAN ONLY BE HIM. Two of the three squadron commanders held the Military Cross; Major H. A. Robinson, MC of A Squadron is not on this roll at all, so his was not won with the Group. This man’s was: at Uweinat in November 1940, the first Military Cross awarded in the whole of the 2NZEF. ON “FROM OTAGO”: he is usually recorded as OF MASTERTON, where he lived and worked as an inspector of stock, but he was BORN AT TAIERI, IN OTAGO, on 10 December 1903 — so the correspondent is not wrong, though it is a birthplace rather than his home at the time. That is the one element of the description resting on origin rather than record, and it is written down rather than smoothed away. THE PAPER NEVER PRINTED HIS NAME and this note does not pretend otherwise; what it says is that every element of the description fits this man and no other officer of the regiment. Sources: “Depriving The Enemy”, Marlborough Express, Volume LXXVI, Issue 169, 21 July 1942, page 5, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand); squadron appointments from R. J. M. Loughnan, “Divisional Cavalry” (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-45, War History Branch, 1963), chapter 12, via the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.

Patrol: LRP R Patrol officer (Lieut. J.H. Sutherland). Brendan O'Carroll, "R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group" (R Patrol Truck Names and Officers appendix).

CORRECTION 28 Jul 2026: service number was listed as NZ #24964, which belongs to Stutterd E.C.; NZ LRDG roll gives Sutherland James Henderson as #1013. Corrected.

Military Cross per W.B. Kennedy Shaw, "Long Range Desert Group" appendices. ("Sutherland, Lt. J.H.", 2 NZEF).

On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): R — 2 i/c R Patrol; returned Div Cav; Comd Div Cav; returned NZ. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).

On the R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941: Lieutenant Sutherland J.H. (M.C.; 2nd i/c). Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941).

M.C. recorded on the R Patrol Nominal Roll (31 Mar 1941). Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941).

Born 10 December 1903 at Taieri. Inspector of stock in civilian life. Lt-Col J. H. Sutherland, MC, of Masterton; second-in-command of an LRDG patrol 1940-41; CO 2 NZ Divisional Cavalry 1942-43. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Lt-Col J. H. Sutherland, MC — stock inspector, Masterton; born Taieri, 10 Dec 1903; second-in-command of patrol LRP and LRDG; CO 2 NZ Div Cav 1942–43.

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Awarded the Military Cross (2nd Cavalry Regiment, NZEF, Middle East), reported in the New Zealand Weekly News decorations. Pictured at Abbassia, 1940, as second-in-command (2IC) of W Patrol.

Led the eight-man flanking troop in the attacks on the Ain Dua post at Uweinat (November 1940), twice working among the boulders to within grenade range of the enemy. Awarded the first MC won by the 2nd NZEF. Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Stock inspector, of Masterton; born Taieri, 10 Dec 1903. MC (the first won by the 2nd NZEF). CO 2 NZ Div Cav 1942–43. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).

His Military Cross was announced on 31 January 1941 — the day of the Gebel Sherif action. The recommendation survives at The National Archives, Kew, in series WO 373 (War Office, Military Secretary’s Department: Recommendations for Honours and Awards for Gallantry), reference WO 373/17/25. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

INSPECTOR OF STOCK in civilian life. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as LIEUTENANT. This agrees with the rank held on this card. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph, record C142043.

THE FIRST TWO MEMBERS OF THE 2ND N.Z.E.F. TO EARN DECORATIONS, AND BOTH WERE OF THIS GROUP. The Taranaki Daily News of 8 March 1941, under “FIRST DECORATION - NEW PLYMOUTH SOLDIER - DESERT PATROL GROUP - INITIATIVE AND COURAGE”, reporting a despatch from the New Zealand official war correspondent in Cairo: “Trooper L. A. Willcox, New Plymouth, and Lieutenant J. H. Sutherland were the first two members of the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force to earn decorations.” It places the action at UWEINAT, where their patrol attacked a garrison living among huge boulders at the foot of a mountain and “the two cavalrymen displayed exceptional initiative and courage in the operation that drove the enemy force up the hillside.” CORROBORATED FROM INSIDE THE PATROL: Sergeant R. O. Spotswood, also of this roll, wrote home in a letter printed on 27 March 1941 that “out of this particular scrap, one of our officers received the M.C. and one of the chaps the M.M. I believe they are about the first two New Zealanders to be decorated in the field this war.” Source: Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1941, and Central Hawke’s Bay Press, 27 March 1941, both via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).

IN HIS OWN WORDS: on 18 May 1944 he told the Masterton Rotary Club that fifty New Zealanders were chosen for the patrols besides three experienced desert travellers and three New Zealand officers, “of which the speaker was one”, and gave the fullest first-hand account of the first crossing of the Great Sand Sea held on this site - five weeks, 2000 miles, “in the main over unmapped and unexplored desert”. THE PAPER CALLS HIM LIEUTENANT-COLONEL: that was his rank in 1944, commanding the Divisional Cavalry. This roll holds his LRDG rank of Lieutenant, and that stands. Source: “Desert Exploration”, Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 May 1944, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).

THE FIRST DECORATION AWARDED IN THE WHOLE OF THE 2NZEF, AND THE NEW ZEALAND PRESS SAID SO AT THE TIME. Five separate papers of February and March 1941, all carrying the same Official War Correspondent’s despatch from Cairo of 13 February 1941, name him with Trooper Willcox as the first two men of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force to win military decorations: “the two cavalrymen, Lieutenant J. H. Sutherland, M.C., and Trooper L. A. Willcox, M.M., displayed exceptional initiative and courage in the operation which drove the enemy force up the hillside.” THE ACTION IS UWEINAT, and the despatch places it: the patrol “attacked a garrison living among huge boulders at the foot of a mountain”. The Southland Times and Wanganui Chronicle of 15 February 1941 add that the two decorations “were the first awarded to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force”. THIS IS CORROBORATION, NOT NEW FACT — the M.C. is already on this card; what the press adds is that the award was understood at the time as the first of the whole force, and that it was public in New Zealand on 15 February 1941. Sources: Southland Times, Issue 24361, and Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 39, both 15 February 1941, page 6; Bay of Plenty Beacon, 10 March 1941; Ellesmere Guardian, 11 March 1941; Te Puke Times, 18 March 1941 — all via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).

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Where this comes from

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