Vickers tank, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), training, Surrey, 1940

Photograph compiled by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1940.

The photograph, captioned, 'Freddie's Folly', shows a Vickers Mk 6 light tank bogged down in the Hankley Common training area in Surrey.

British armoured divisions, in France and training at home in 1940, were equipped with a mixture of light and cruiser tanks. By October 1940, the Sharpshooters were in Surrey undertaking training, primarily equipped with light Vickers tanks. During the period prior to their departure for North Africa in 1941, the 3rd and the 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) regiments were supplied with cruiser tanks but they were, on more than one occasion, withdrawn and redeployed with units on active service.

Hankley Common was used during World War Two (1939-1945) as a training area. In 1943 it was used to recreate a section of the Atlantic Wall in preparation for Operation OVERLORD, the amphibious assault on occupied France in 1944. Some of the concrete fortifications are still in place.

The site which is also a nature reserve is still owned by the Ministry of Defence. It has also served as a film location for a number of productions, including James Bond films, 'The World is Not Enough' (1999) and 'Die Another Day' (2002). More recently 'Black Widow' (2019) and 'The King's Man' (2019) were filmed there.

From an album of 328 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1938-1940.