References
This page will never be complete – it shall be used to introduce historical expeditions but as well tours to the desert done by replica-vehicles .
1917: The Story of the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol
Jack McRoberts
1917: The Story of the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol
The Light Patrol Car story began as soon as news of the War reached Australia, with the commencement of a plan by a small group of motor enthusiasts, to furnish armoured cars to the Australian Imperial Force.
1927: Alone across the Sahara in a Renault 6CV
Kuno Gross (after Werner Noether)
1927: Alone across the Sahara in a Renault 6CV
It is actually not adviseable to cross the Sahara with only one vehicle in particular if this vehicle has only 20HP. But exactly such was done in 1927. 17’000 kilometers in only 36 days.
1929: Expedition Loiseau
Kuno Gross (Werner Noether)
1929: Expedition Loiseau
It was probably not so often the case that Bugatti cars were used for a desert expedition – but in one case exactly this was done
1932 April: Almásy
Andras Zboray
1932 April: Almásy - Clayton East Calyton- Clayton - Penderel Expedition
A major expedition is organized by Almásy and Sir Robert Clayton East, with Patrick Clayton and H.W.G.J. Penderel, taking a Gypsy Moth aeroplane to the western side of the Gilf Kebir.
1933, March to May: Almasy & Penderell Expedition
Andras Zboray
1933, March to May: Almasy & Penderell Expedition
Almásy & Penderel, with austrian author Richard Bermann & photographer Hans Kasparius, organise an expedition to explore the 'Gap' and the northern valleys of the Gilf Kebir
1933, October to December: Almasy's "Frobenius Expedition"
Andras Zboray
1933, October to December: Almasy's "Frobenius Expedition"
Almásy leads Leo Frobenius, Hans Rhotert & artist Elisabeth Pauli to the known rock art sites at Uweinat & the Gilf Kebir, then on to the sites of the south Libyan Desert discovered by Newbold & Shaw
1934, 1935 DIAFE XII
Kuno Gross (after Hans Rhotert)
1934, 1935 DIAFE XII
This expedition is not widely known – although it went on for 9,5 months and the overall distance travelled was about 25'000 kilometers
1938: Georg und Irmgard von Opel, 5'000 km durch Afrika
Kuno Gross
1938: Georg und Irmgard von Opel, 5'000 km durch Afrika
In 1938 Georg von Opel got an invitation to partacke an expedition from Egypt up the Nile into the Sudan. He accepted the invitation under the condition to take his wife Irmgard and their common friend, Eric Phelps, a British, with him.
1942: Operation Salam, László Almásy’s most daring Mission in the Desert War
Kuno Gross, Michael Rolke & Andras Zboray
1942: Operation Salam, László Almásy’s most daring Mission in the Desert War
15 May 1942: The day before, the operation had met nearby catastrophe and failure at the early beginning. Ladislaus Almásy had reconsidered the planning as a whole and calculated a new route during that night.
1942: Sonderkommando Dora
Michael Rolke
1942: Sonderkommando Dora
The German Abwehr, Abteilung 1, had created a special unit consisting of cartographers, geographers, astronomers and geologists, all in all 13 scientists, with a support crew of about 60 soldiers, people who had pre-war experience in Africa together with a small protective detachment.
1954/55: N.B. Richter
Michael Rolke
1954/55: N.B. Richter - to the Black Oasis
1954/55 konnte Richter mit seiner Frau Lore aus der DDR ausreisen und mit westdeutschen Wissenschaftler-Kollegen diesen einzigartigen Ort erforschen, der bis dahin nur vom italienischen Geographen Desio recht oberflächlich beschrieben worden war.
1958: Richters last Expedition to the Sahara
Michael Rolke
1958: Richters last Expedition to the Sahara
[Under preparation]
1959: HS 140 – als Wüstenschiff durch Libyen
Unknown / Kuno Gross
1959: HS 140 – als Wüstenschiff durch Libyen
It was in November 1959 when a geological expedition using three Landrovers and a recently introduced Henschel HS 140 started from Tripoli to a long march through the desert of Libya…
2001 to 2008: In the Niger with a Citroen 2 CV
Sylvie Beallet and Cyril Ribas
2001 to 2008: In the Niger with a Citroen 2 CV
Extraordinary desert expeditions with an extraordinary vehicle!