Editing Long Range Desert Group (section)

===Post 1943 operations===
[[File:Easonsmith 1.jpg|right|thumb|upright|alt=unkempt man in British Army uniform, with hands in pockets|LRDG commanding officer [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[John Richard Easonsmith]] [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] [[Military Cross|MC]] was killed in action during the [[Battle of Leros]].]]
In May 1943 the LRDG was sent to [[Lebanon]] to retrain in mountain warfare.<ref>Kay 2008, p.37</ref> However, following the [[Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces|Italian armistice in 1943]], they were sent to [[Leros]], one of the [[Dodecanese islands]], to serve as normal infantry. They later took part in the [[Battle of Leros]], where the commanding officer [[John Richard Easonsmith]] was killed and replaced by [[David Lloyd Owen]].<ref name=owen>{{cite news|access-date=19 May 2010|newspaper=[[Daily Telegraph]]|title=Obituary, David LLoyd Owen|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1310650/Major-General-David-Lloyd-Owen.html|location=London|date=7 April 2001}}</ref> After the battle the New Zealanders, consisting of two officers and approximately 46 men, were withdrawn from the LRDG and returned to their division at the request of the New Zealand Government, which was concerned about their deployment to Leros.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=19 May 2010|title=New Zealand Squadron, Long Range Desert Group, in the Dodecanese Operations|publisher=[[New Zealand Electronic text centre]]|url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2-2Doc-c14.html}}</ref>

In December 1943, the LRDG re-organised into two squadrons of eight patrols. Each patrol contained one officer and 10 other ranks. Major [[Moir Stormonth Darling]] was given command of the British Squadron and Major [[Kenneth Henry Lazarus]] the Rhodesian Squadron. Patrols were then parachuted north of Rome to obtain information about German troop movements, and also carried out raids on the [[Dalmatian Islands]] and [[Corfu]].<ref name=owen/><ref name=darling>{{cite news|access-date=18 May 2010|newspaper=[[Daily Telegraph]]|title=Obituary,Colonel Moir Stormonth Darling |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1394312/Colonel-Moir-Stormonth-Darling.html|location=London|date=16 May 2002}}</ref>

In August 1944, British Squadron patrols were parachuted into [[Yugoslavia]]. One patrol destroyed two {{convert|40|ft}} spans of a large railway bridge, which caused widespread disruption to the movement of German troops and supplies. The commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Owen and a team of 36 men were parachuted into [[Albania]] in September 1944. Their mission was to follow the German retreat and assist [[Albanian Resistance of World War II|Albanian resistance groups]] in attacking them.<ref>Pearson 2006, p.390</ref> In October 1944, two British Squadron patrols were parachuted into the [[Florina]] area of [[Greece]]. Here they mined a road used by the retreating Germans, destroying three vehicles and blocking the road. Firing on the stranded convoy from an adjacent hillside, they directed RAF aircraft in to destroy the rest of the convoy.<ref name=darling/>

After the end of the war in Europe, the leaders of the LRDG made a request to the [[War Office]] for the unit to be transferred to the Far East to conduct operations against the [[Japanese Empire]]. The request was declined and the LRDG was disbanded in August 1945.<ref name="O'Carrollsugg">O'Carroll 2000, pp.185–189</ref><ref>Haskew 2007, p.36</ref>