Wilders Gap Expedition a Success!
Popski’s Private Expeditions’ October 2025 expedition was a great success. Our largest group yet with 11 vehicles and 20 crew members taking part. We explored a new area of Tunisia and continued our objective of locating and documenting areas of WW11 historical interest. Following on from our ‘Lost Patrol’ series of expeditions looking for the site of the joint LRDG/PPA vehicle hide battle site, this time we went looking for the actual locations and routes used by the New Zealand Division and Tinker’s T2 LRDG patrol as they flanked the Germans at the Mareth Line.
PPE column moves towards Wilder’s Gap, as recorded by Major Ken Lazarus of the LRDG’s S1 patrol. This was a narrow gap in the hills leading north from the east-west road that passes through the coastal mountains.
The Wilders Gap Conundrum
The common assumption is that Wilder’s Gap refers to a pass leading west through the coastal mountains. This pass was historically an old camel route, later improved to be a Roman road and now features a mostly tar road running west towards the Grand Erg sand sea. However, when our team dug deep into the UK and New Zealand War Ministry records, we found numerous latitude/longitude references in operations orders and patrol reports that suggested the actual route turned north-west almost immediately rather than following the established east-west road. Major Lazarus, of T1 Patrol, records the gap as being a narrow canyon north of the road that would allow vehicle access to the hilly, but passable areas beyond. Since the NZ Division and attachments (est. 17,000 men and 3000 vehicles) spent nearly a week in this area north west of the canyon, we wanted to establish the exact locations and routes used in early 1943.
Piles of discarded ‘flimsy’ Commonwealth fuel tins littered the area, along with bully beef tins, ammunition crates and even some possibly live ordinance. We also found a number of captured German ‘jerry’ cans and even a rare U.S. copy of the jerry can.
Alpha and Bravo Patrols
Given the large size of the group, we decided to break down into two patrols for this expedition. Alpha patrol consisted primarily of the short wheel base trucks including Lightweights, 90’s and a very capable Series 3 lead by James Davis. Bravo was made up of three 110 WMIK’s, an ex-NZ army 109 V8 and a semi-stripped down 110 station wagon and led by Andrew Carver. The two patrols operated independently sometimes only seeing each other every couple of days.
Alpha Patrol consisted of three Lightweights, a Series 3 and a 110 Wolf. Bravo held our 3 WMIK 110’s, a Series 3 109 V8 and a partially stripped 110 Station Wagon.
One lesson learned is that the heavier, long wheel base trucks can definitely use a smaller, lighter SWB scout vehicle. During any crossing of sand dunes, Bravo patrol often struggled and having a more agile route-finder would have been helpful.
New Missions for 2026
Now that we are back, a documentary of the expedition is in development and we will be putting out some clips and images in the coming weeks on social media. The main goal now is planning for 2026 and early 2027.
The April 2026 Tunisia Tour will be a chance for us to take a CAT 2 exploration of areas of Tunisia we have not yet explored. Later in the year we will be heading to Algeria for the first time in what we are calling the Long Patrol given that some of the stages will require crossing up to 500km of remote desert in the heart of the North African Sahara.
So, if you are interested in what we do and think you might want to join up, drop us an email and introduce yourself.