'From the top of Table Mountain', 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) shore leave, Cape Town, South Africa, 1941
Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale (1913-1995), MC, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two (1939-1945), 1941.
According to the Sharpshooters' war diary, 40 officers and 603 other ranks of the 3rd County of London Yeomanry embarked on the Orion at Avonmouth on 14 August 1941. The troopship sailed for the Middle East the next day. British forces travelling to Egypt avoided the Mediterranean Sea because of the threat from German and Italian forces.
The Sharpshooters' route included stops at Freetown in Sierra Leone and Cape Town in South Africa, then on to Aden and then up to Egypt. The Orion arrived at Cape Town on 11 September 1941. Over the next two days route marches were organised with shore leave granted from 13.00 to 23.59 hours. The ship left Cape Town on the 14 September 1941.
From an album containing 229 group photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1941.
NAM Accession Number
NAM. 1975-03-63-4-109
Copyright/Ownership
National Army Museum Copyright
Location
National Army Museum, Study collection
Object URL
https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1975-03-63-4-109