'Bill Sillar treating a refugee', Sicily, 1943

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, Italy, 1943.

A British medical officer from the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) treats the wounds of a Sicilian woman who had been beaten by the retreating Germans.

William Sillar (1914-1976) graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1939 but quickly volunteered for military service when war broke out. He served with the Lancashire Fusiliers in the British Expeditionary Force in France. Sillar was captured by the Germans but, despite poor health, managed to escape occupied Europe via an escape route across the Spanish border. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1941. He returned to active service, serving in North Africa and Italy with 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). After the War, and with the advent of the National Health Service, Sillar became a surgeon at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. He specialised in surgery relating to trauma and orthopaedics. Sellar's experience on the front line during World War Two, influenced his involvement in the creation of a purpose-built accident and emergency department. He died on 23 January 1976.

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