Ronald Moore (Trooper)

Moore's March is the name of a forced march through the Libyan Desert by survivors of a Long Range Desert Group patrol led by Trooper Ronald Moore following the Battle of Kufra in February 1941. Moore was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions.

T Patrol was ambushed by the Italian Auto-Saharan Company, plus three aircraft, and trapped in a small valley in the Gebel Sherif south of Kufra. Three trucks were blown up and three Italian prisoners held by the Patrol were killed. Several of the LRDG men were wounded, and some managed to get away in the confusion, but four men — Trooper Ronald Moore, Guardsmen John Easton and Alex Winchester, and Private Alf Tighe — were left behind, the others being convinced that they must have been either killed or made prisoner. In fact, all four were alive, although injured, and avoiding capture in the nearby hills. Moore, a trooper of the New Zealand Cavalry, was wounded in the foot, Easton had a bullet wound in the throat which caused him great pain, and Tighe wassuffering from a former internal injury.

The following morning, having discovered among the burnt-out wreckage one 2-gallon tin of water, but no food whatsoever, the four men decided to walk the 290 miles they had come hoping to be picked up by some Free French party, rather than the 80 miles north-eastwards to Kufra and give themselves up to the Italians.

Under Moore's leadership they set out carrying in turn the precious tin of water. That day, an Italian aircraft flew over but apparently did not see them. On the third day, they found a 2-pound pot of plum jam, dropped off one of the trucks on the journey northward. They ate the whole of it that day. On the fourth day, Tighe became very tired and on the fifth eventually persuaded his comrades to leave him and to go on, as he felt he was hindering their progress. Before going, they poured his share of the tiny water supply into a bottle, which they had picked up. Not until after they had left him did this unfortunate man discover that the bottle had contained some salty substance, which made the water undrinkable.

On the sixth day, a violent sand storm arose, but Moore, Easton and Winchester just managed to follow the fast-disappearing car tracks to Sarra. Here they spent some time in a ruined hut. They found no food, but with some abandoned motor oil they managed to bathe their feet and to make a fire to warm themselves at night. They had walked 130 miles. The next morning, they continued on towards Tekro, still 160 miles distant. By now, the motor tracks had entirely disappeared over long stretches of the route, and it became extremely difficult to follow them up. Meanwhile, Tighe, who had struggled on through all that seventh day, managed to reach the hut by nightfall, but was too exhausted to go further. He found one match in the sand and, with this and the oil, made a fire without which he would probably have died that night. On the evening of the ninth day, a French patrol, fresh from a reconnaissance of the enemy position at Kufra, found Tighe at Sarra.

A search party was at once organised by the French, but was unsuccessful in following the track in the dark. The same day, two French aircraft spotted Moore and Winchester. By now, all water had given out and Easton was lagging behind. The aircraft dropped food and a bottle of lemonade, all they had with them, but neither Moore nor Winchester noticed the food, and the cork came out of the lemonade bottle on impact with the ground, so that only half an inch of liquid remained. After this, the two men went on independently, Moore ahead, and Winchester, semi-delirious, struggling after him. Finally, on the tenth day, another search party found first Easton about 55 miles south of Sarra and then Winchester 12 miles further on. Both could walk no more and werelying exhausted on the sand.

The party then caught up with Moore, 70 miles south of Sarra and 210 miles from his starting point. He was still plodding on with swinging arms, perfectly clear headed and normal. He waved to them without stopping as if to an acquaintance. He was determined to reach Tekro in the two days that he estimated he could last out — and he would probably have done so if he had not been found. With nothing to eat for ten days, except a little jam, and with only 4 pints of water to drink, wounded in one foot in which a shell splinter still lodged, Moore had not only walked this astonishing distance, but had for several days virtually carried with him two men who were physically weaker than himself, as well as Winchester.

Moore, Tighe and Winchester recovered from their ordeal and Moore, for his outstanding determination and inspired leadership, was presented with a well-earned Distinguished Conduct Medal.

References

* Morgan, M. "Sting of the Scorpian" 2000 Sutton Publishing Ltd, Gloucestershire, England, UK ISBN 0-7509-2481-0