3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) on board a 'Landing Ship, Tank', Operation HUSKY, 1943

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

The two Sharpshooters are named as 'Arthur Cook' and 'Mike Carter'.

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 The regiment had been withdrawn to Egypt to reorganise, re-equip and train for an assault on the island of Sicily.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. They travelled in small convoys until they approached Sicily where the invasion force formed up prior to initiating the landings.

While on the American-built LSTs the Sharpshooters shared duties with the Royal Navy crew. For example, they healped man the vessels' Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, like the one in this picture, although the German and Italian air forces were largely absent during the voyage.

Corporal Michael Carter fought through the campaigns in North Africa and Sicily but his luck ran out near Termoli on mainland Italy. On 6 October 1943 the Sherman tank he was commanding was knocked out and Michael died of the wounds he received, aged just 20. Two other members of the crew were killed in the action. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records Carter's burial at the Bari War Cemetery.

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