'On a lighter waiting to go aboard', 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), Tripoli, Libya, 1943

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North Africa, 1943.

Troops are transported to a 'Landing Ship, Tank', or 'LST'. Two of the men are identified as 'Bill Palmer' and 'Geof Willis'. Lieutenant-Colonel George Geoffrey Lightly (1908-1943) was the Commanding Officer of 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).

Tripoli had been a key port for Axis (German and Italian) forces during the North African campaign; it eventually fell to the Allies in January 1943. While 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) had fought its way to Tripoli after the Battle of El Alamein, the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), sailed into the port in June 1943. The regiment had been withdrawn to Egypt to reorganise, re-equip and train for an assault on the island of Sicily. The men of 3rd County of London Yeomanry, now part of an invasion fleet, were only in Tripoli for a week before re-embarking for Sicily, as part of Operation HUSKY.

The war diary of the Sharpshooters records the deaths of Lieutenant-Colonel George Geoffrey Lightly Willis DSO and Lieutenant William Henry Palmer on 17 July 1943 during heavy fighting around the Primosole Bridge over the Simeto RIver. During Operation FUSTIAN Allied airborne troops had attempted to capture the bridge and 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) were involved in the supporting ground attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Willis, leading his men from the front, as he had done in North Africa, is believed to have been hit by a sniper's bullet; he died of his wound soon after.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records Palmer's grave at Catania War Cemetery, Sicily, but records the date of his death as 19 July 1943. Lieutenant-Colonel Willis is commemorated at the same war cemetery.

From an album containing 241 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).