Loading a LST prior to the invasion of Italy, 1943

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, Italy (1943-1945), 1943.

An M4 Sherman medium tank of 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) being driven on to a Landing Ship Tank (LST) at Catania in Sicily. The LST could carry a 2,100-ton load of tanks, vehicles and cargo directly on to an enemy shore.

Built in the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, the US Navy LST-1 Class tank landing ship, designated LSE-53, was commissioned in December 1942. It went into action with the Royal Navy as LST 402 in 1943. As well as Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily, LST 402 also participated in the subsequent landings at Salerno and Anzio during the Italian campaign. The ship was returned to the United States after World War Two (1939-1945) and was eventually sold for scrap in 1947.

From a photograph album containing 246 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).