Lanchester armoured car, Popham, Hampshire, 1939

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1939.

The soldiers with the armoured car are named as 'Jimmy Sale', 'Freddie Crowley' and 'Geof Willis'.

The six-wheeled Lanchester was introduced in the late 1920s. It was armed with .5 inch (12.7 mm) and .303 inch (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns in a dual mount. Prior to mobilisation in September 1939 the 3rd and the recently formed 4th County of London Yeomanry both trained at Popham with a crossover period to help the new unit get up to speed.

Lieutenant-Colonel George Geoffrey Lightly Willis (1908-1943) went on to win the Distinguished Service Order and he led the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) in North Africa and Sicily. He was killed on 17 July 1943, leading from the front, in the heavy fighting around the Primosole Bridge in Sicily. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission commemorates his death at the Catania War Cemetery, Sicily.

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