'Arthur and some smalls', 1942

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North Africa, 1942.

The water ration for a British soldier serving in the Western Desert was 4.5 litres (a gallon) a day. In the desert natural water supplies were almost non-existent. Water had to be transported in. Half of each man's water ration went for cooking and topping up the radiators of vehicles. Men had to ration what was left for drinking, washing and shaving.

From an album containing 189 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), 1943.