Despatch rider, 3rd County of London Yeomanry, Westbury, Wiltshire, 1941

Photograph compiled by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, 1941.

With the advent of war in 1939, the Sharpshooters expanded. Andrew Graham's book, 'Sharpshooters at War' (University Press, Glasgow, 1964), notes that while many of the officers of the Sharpshooters were recruited from regular cavalry officers associated with clubs in London, the rank and file were recruited from 'garages, hotels, offices and shops', with adverts placed in the evening press. The expansion of the unit included the recruitment and training of despatch riders, to carry messages and undertake patrols.

The unit's initial road and rail move to Westbury in Wiltshire occurred at the end of May 1941. According to the unit's war diary, on 1 June 1941, the Sharpshooters numbered 40 officers and 589 other ranks. It was equipped with 22 Cruiser tanks (including Marks VI, V and VIa), 26 light tanks, 10 scout cars and 7 personnel carriers, along with around 65 soft-skin vehicles and 17 motorcycles. The 3rd County of Yeomanry undertook training at Westbury until mid-August. It then moved to Avonmouth and embarked on the voyage to North Africa.

From an album containing 620 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).