‹ Long Range Desert Group — Roll of Members

Ronald Arthur “Ron” Tinker

Lieutenant Colonel · NZ #7483 · T Patrol · MC, MM, MID

Ronald Arthur “Ron” Tinker
RankLieutenant Colonel
Service numberNZ #7483
PatrolT Patrol
Regiment27th (Machine Gun) Battalion
Known as“Ron”
Born1913-04-13
Died1982-02-16
HonoursMC, MM, MID
Campaign medalsOBE, War Medal 1939-45, NZ War Service Medal, NZ Operational Service Medal
Recordhttps://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C142356

What this roll records

HE DIED ON 16 FEBRUARY 1982 AT CHRISTCHURCH HOSPITAL, AGED 68, and the Press gave him a full obituary the following morning under the heading “Death of notable N.Z. soldier and leader”, by Doug Borman. The death notice two days later names him in full with his decorations and his number — “TINKER, Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald Arthur, O.B.E., M.C. and M.M. (Reg. No. 7483, L.R.D.G.)” — AND THE NUMBER IS THIS CARD’S OWN. HIS WIFE WAS ELSIE FRANCES, and she is why the obituary is worth reading beside his service record: she was A NURSING SISTER WITH THE 2ND N.Z.E.F. IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND ITALY, and she died several years before him. He was survived by his son Ronald and his daughter Elizabeth, and by his sisters Hazel Fullwood and Jean Scott. His funeral service was held in the Harewood Crematorium Chapel, 507 Johns Road, on 19 February 1982; messages went to 140 Queen Street, Dunedin. ONE SMALL DIFFERENCE: the notice lists him O.B.E., M.C. and M.M. and does not mention the Mention in Despatches this roll also holds — an omission in a family notice, not a contradiction of the record. THE LAST TWENTY YEARS, WHICH NO SERVICE RECORD HOLDS: after the Antarctic he tried several jobs before joining Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd in an office job that still took him among farmers, “and he was never happier than when duties took him to the Addington Saleyards”; he went on working at the saleyards once a week until an accident and illness forced him to stop about eighteen months before he died. He was a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for about forty years. The obituary does not flatter him — it records that he loved the Commonwealth and the Empire to the end of his life, “even if at times with a touch of bigotry and prejudice”, and that red tape was as much anathema to him as the red tabs of some of his superiors. Source: the Press, 17 February 1982, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand). Death notice: the Press, 19 February 1982, page 25, via Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand).

Patrol T: "Lieut. R.A. Tinker" (T Patrol; Kiwi-marked truck). NOTE: an "R.H. Tinker" also appears in an R Patrol caption but is not separately in this sheet. Brendan O'Carroll, "The Long Range Desert Group in North Africa".

Merged duplicate "R.H. Tinker" (same #7483): R.A. Tinker served R Patrol early (navigator) then commanded T Patrol - explains the "R Patrol" caption entry.

PATROL COMMANDER of T2 per W.B. Kennedy Shaw, "Long Range Desert Group", Appendix 4 Patrol Commanders.

On original LRP Roll (5 Dec 1940): R — Dvr R Patrol; Navigator R1; Sgt R1; commissioned; OC T2. Source: LRP Roll (Original LRP Nominal Roll as at 5 Dec 1940, Capt L H Browne).

March 1942 roll (courtesy Tarek el Mahdy): Navigator

North Africa — Dec 1942: evaded capture. T2 commander; regained friendly forces after the Sedada action. Source: TRACKS magazine (LRDG Association), Ian Chard, 'Not all were lucky — LRDG missing in North Africa', June 2023.

On the R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941: Private Tinker R.H., 7483. Source: Brendan O'Carroll, 'R Patrol, Long Range Desert Group' (R Patrol Nominal Roll, 31 March 1941). Master records patrol 'T', a later posting; R Patrol was his 31 Mar 1941 assignment.

Pictured in a wartime New Zealand press cutting as 'Second-Lieutenant R.A. Tinker, M.M., of New Plymouth, awarded the M.C.' (his MC and MM are already recorded).

Born 13 April 1913 at Christchurch. Motor truck driver in civilian life. Lt-Col R. A. Tinker, MC, MM, m.i.d.; born NZ 13 Apr 1913; a legendary LRDG navigator/patrol officer; later a Regular soldier and Chief of Staff, Southern Military District. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

The Kiwi Scorpions (Brendan O'Carroll): Capt. R. A. Tinker — motor driver, Timaru; born NZ, 13 Apr 1913; patrol commander LRDG; later New Zealand Regular Force.

Patrol commander: commanded T2 Patrol. Kiwi Scorpions (Appendix II — Commanders of NZ Patrols).

Sting of the Scorpion (Brendan O'Carroll) — the assault on Levita: Levita, 23–24 Oct 1943: A Squadron commander who, with Maj A. Guild, urged that a reconnaissance be made before the landing (the request was refused).

As Second-Lieutenant, commanded the T2 road-watch party near Sedada (December 1942) that was overrun by German armoured cars, and brought his survivors out. In the Tunisian reconnaissance (Jan–Feb 1943) his T2 patrol, with ‘Popski’s’ PPA, found the corridor through the Tebaga Gap; after the base camp was destroyed by air attack he led the survivors on an epic escape — the first vehicles ever to cross the Chott Djerid salt marshes — to reach Allied lines at Tozeur. Later navigated the New Zealand Corps in the ‘left hook’ around the Mareth Line. Awarded the MC. Source: ‘The Eighth Army Advance / Reconnaissance in Tunisia’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

In the Aegean (1943) his composite patrol on Pserimo narrowly escaped when the German fleet for Cos landed there (3–4 October), being taken off with the loss of one man. After the fall of Leros hid on Mount Tortore and escaped. Source: ‘Invasion of the Dodecanese Islands’ (Battle of Leros / Assault on Levita), Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

Motor driver, of Timaru; born NZ, 13 Apr 1913. MC, MM, m.i.d. Later NZ Regular Army. Source: Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (biographical notes).

One of the five New Zealanders on Captain Clayton’s first LRP reconnaissance into Libya across the Sand Sea (1940). Navigated the Scots Guards through Msus in December 1941. Source: ‘Long Range Desert Group in Libya, 1940–41’, Episodes & Studies Vol. 1 (NZ official war history).

He held two gallantry awards: the Military Medal, announced 9 September 1942, and the Military Cross, announced 22 July 1943. 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 373/46/104 for the Military Cross — the same piece that holds the November 1942 Military Medals to Craw, Tippett, Dobson and Ellis. After the war he was a Temporary Lieutenant Colonel of the Fijian Infantry Regiment in Malaya. Source: Auckland War Memorial Museum Online Cenotaph.

Embarkation detail from his Cenotaph record: he embarked as Private, 2NZEF Nominal Roll 1 p. 182. The rank held on this card, Lieutenant Colonel, 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 C142356.

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Not By Strength But By Guile