'Mersa Matruh from the outskirts', Egypt, 1942

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North Africa, 1942.

Mersa Matruh is a port on the coast of Egypt. It was a fortified base for British and Commonwealth forces in 1942, connected by railway to Alexandria, 240 km to the east. In June 1942 German forces launched a successful assault that captured the port. The 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), mauled in the Battle of Gazala which preceded the attack, had already been pulled back to an escarpment south of the town. Mersa Matruh was recaptured by Allied forces in November 1942.

The railhead at Mersa Matruh can be seen in the centre of this photograph.

From an album containing 199 photographs compiled by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).