Mike Carter and a tame jackdaw, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), Rushton, Northamptonshire, 1940

Photograph compiled by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1940.

The war diary of 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) records the unit at Rushton in July and August 1940. The unit received a full complement of Vickers light tanks and undertook training exercises before moving on to Cambridge.

Corporal Michael Carter fought through the campaigns in North Africa and Sicily but his luck ran out near Termoli on mainland Italy. On 6 October 1943 the Sherman tank he was commanding was knocked out and Michael died of the wounds he received, aged just 20. Two other members of the crew were killed in the action. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records Carter's burial at the Bari War Cemetery.

Photograph from an album compiled by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1938-1940.