The NZ Herald has created a four-part narrative podcast series, Desert Pirates, uncovering little-known stories of New Zealand soldiers operating deep behind enemy lines during World War II.
Released ahead of the Anzac weekend, the series follows the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), an elite unit of Kiwi soldiers whose daring reconnaissance and missions across North Africa helped shape modern special forces. The LRDG travelled thousands of kilometres in ingeniously modified trucks across hostile desert terrain to gather intelligence, navigating using the sun.
Desert Pirates explores the achievements and brutal realities for the LRDG of fighting behind enemy lines.
Narrated and produced by award-winning writers John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy (pictured above) from Bird of Paradise Productions, the series features rare wartime audio recorded by the New Zealand Broadcast Unit in North Africa as well as insights from historians and people closely connected to the men of the LRDG.
Made with support from NZ On Air, the project also draws on rarely-seen film footage shot by the soldiers themselves, redigitised especially for this podcast.
John Daniell said:
“The story of the LRDG is about courage, innovation and teamwork – it’s about these Kiwi blokes who basically invented special forces warfare. We feel incredibly lucky to have access to extraordinary archive audio of the soldiers themselves, recorded in the desert during the war and afterwards, which makes this story perfect for podcasting.”
Jane Yee, Head of Podcasts at NZ Herald said:
“We’re pleased to share the Desert Pirates story with NZ Herald audiences, bringing to light a chapter of New Zealand history that hasn’t had the attention it deserves and showcasing the strength of the NZ Herald podcast network in backing ambitious, well-researched storytelling. These are extraordinary, deeply human stories, and telling them now feels important – not only to honour those who served, but to better understand the realities of conflict through a modern lens.
“It’s also great to welcome John Daniell and Noelle McCarthy back to the NZ Herald podcast network following their work on the Mr Asia and Rainbow Warrior podcasts, which were huge successes. I know Desert Pirates will be another compelling series our Herald audiences will really enjoy.”
The first two episodes of Desert Pirates are released on Thursday 23 April 2026 with episode 3 on Friday 24 April and episode 4 on Saturday 25 April. You can listen via nzherald.co.nz, iHeartRadio, and other major podcast platforms.
Images supplied.