Butcher & Bolt

Raids conducted by the Special Air Service and Long Range Desert Group (affectionately known as the Desert Taxi Service) marked a turning point in the desert war. While the siege of Tobruk ground on during the winter of 1941, convoys of British Commandos struck out at airfields and munitions depots from the inhospitable Great Sand Sea, melting away into the night once the deed was done. Such raids destroyed German and Italian planes on the ground, starved fighting vehicles of fuel, and rid soldiers of their munitions. Casualties among the Commandos were high, but their long-term effect on enemy morale endured for the remainder of the war.