Sherman tank of 2 Troop, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), disabled by a mine on Li Colli Ridge, Italy, 1943

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

In November 1943 German troops defended the Li Colli Ridge, north of the River Sangro, against Allied forces advancing up through Italy. The Sharpshooters' war diary records the Regiment's advance with elements of the Royal Irish Fusiliers on Li Colli Ridge on the 29 November 1943. It records that, 'The Regiment advanced close behind the barrage (150 yards), in column of squadrons. B Sqn ran into a minefield at 3802 and 7 tanks were rendered immobile by mines. A Sqn deployed a troop to the left, 2 of these tanks going up on mines. C Sqn led now to the right and found a way up to the R. Li Colli feature, and here the REs [Royal Engineers] cleared a path through the minefield'.

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