'Bomb damage at Hamburg', Germany, 1945

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North West Europe, 1945.

According to the unit's war diary, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) moved into Hamburg on 4 May 1945, four days before the official unconditional surrender by senior German officers. The Regiment spent Victory in Europe (VE) Day in Hamburg, in improvised messes and canteens in the town. They left Hamburg the following day, on 9 May 1945, to undertake occupation duties in Elmshorn.

Hamburg had been largely destroyed in July 1943 during Operation GOMORRAH, a week of raids that were part of the wider Allied bombing campaign in North West Europe. The bombing and resultant firestorm killed tens of thousands of civilians and reduced much of the city to ruins.

From a photograph album containing 198 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).