Thomas Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly KCMG (1914 - 1988), known as Dan Ranfurly, was a Second Lieutenant in the British 7th Armoured Division, called "the Desert Rats". His exploits, along with those of his wife, Hermione, and valet, Whitaker, are chronicled in his wife's memoirs from the time, To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939 - 1945. On the Orders insignia, St Michael is often depicted subduing Satan. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The 7th Armoured Division (known as the Desert Rats) of the British Army was the most famous unit of its type in British service during World War II. It was a regular division in the Middle East, designated the Mobile Division at first, renamed the Armoured Division (Egypt) in September... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full year calendar). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

He and his wife met in 1937 when he was an aide-de-camp to Lord Gowrie, the Governor-General of Australia. Two years later, both aged 25, they returned to Britain and were married. They later had a daughter, Caroline. Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... An aide-de-camp (French: camp assistant) is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state. ... Lord Gowrie Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie VC, KBE, PC (6 July 1872 - 2 May 1955), tenth Governor-General of Australia, was born in Windsor, Berkshire, England, the second son of the 8th Baron Ruthven. ... Michael Jeffery, the current Governor-General of Australia The Governor-General of Australia is the representative in Australia of Australias head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, who lives in the United Kingdom. ...

Lord Ranfurly was initially posted to British-controlled Palestine, thence to join with the 7th in Egypt. His wife, violating multiple British Army protocols forbidding the wives of soldiers at the front, repeatedly hatched schemes to join him as he was shuffled across the Middle East and North Africa, finally succeeding in Cairo in 1941. Soon after, however, Lord Ranfurly was captured at Tobruk, and remained an Italian prisoner-of-war for three further years before escaping. He was prisoner in several special camps for distinguished military prisoners, including generals Richard O'Connor, Philip Neame, and Adrian Carton De Wiart. He became friends with Carton De Wiart. Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, generally divided by the formidable barrier of the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ... Siege of Tobruk Conflict World War II, Western Desert Campaign Date March 31, 1941 – November 27, 1941 Place Tobruk, Libya Result Allied victory The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces in the North African Campaign of World War II. See also Afrika Korps... Austro-Hungarian POWs in Russia; a 1915 photo by Prokudin-Gorskii A prisoner of war (POW, PoW, or PW) is a combatant who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... General Sir Richard Nugent OConnor , KT , GCB , GBE , DSO , MC , ADC (August 21, 1889 – June 17, 1981) was a British Army general who commanded the Western Desert Force (WDF) in the early years of World War II. OConnor was the field commander for Operation Compass, in which he... Philip Neame (VC, KBE, CB, DSO, Chevalier, Legion dHonneur and Croix de Guerre (France), Croix de Guerre (Belgium)) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ... Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO, (May 5, 1880 - June 5, 1963), was a British officer of Belgian and Irish descent. ...

Following the end of World War II, Lord Ranfurly worked briefly in insurance at Lloyd's of London, not long after being appointed Governor of the Bahamas by Winston Churchill. While there, he and his wife began the Ranfurly Library Service in Nassau. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Lloyd’s Building, London (with the blue cranes). ... List of Colonial Heads of the Bahamas (Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office) For continuation after independence, see:Governors-General of the Bahamas Categories: Bahamas ... Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was an English statesman, soldier, and author, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. ... For other uses of Nassau, see Nassau (disambiguation). ...

After they returned home in 1957, Lady Ranfurly continued to ship books to parts of the world short on libraries, founding an organization now known as Book Aid International. Lord Ranfurly, meanwhile, took up farming at his Buckinghamshire estate. He died in 1988. 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Buckinghamshire (abbreviated Bucks) is one of the home counties in South East England. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External link

• Biography of the Countess of Ranfurly, as well as a discussion of her memoirs