Lieutenant Jimmy Sale with refugee children in the laundry at Nicolosi, 1943

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, Sicily, 1943.

Sicilian children climb on a Sherman tank of the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). The vehicle is armed with a 75 mm M3 gun that could that penetrate the armour of most Axis tanks the Sherman faced in North Africa and Italy at normal combat ranges. However, it was completely ineffective against the front of the German Panther and Tiger I tanks at typical combat distances. As a result, many Shermans were subsequently fitted with the larger 76 mm M1 gun or the British 17-pounder.

From an album containing 246 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).