The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2 RTR) was an

armoured Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. It was part of the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the World War I, First World War. Today, it is an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment equipped with Challenger 2 main battle tanks ...

, itself part of the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...

and the 1st Mechanized Brigade.

History

Founded as B Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917, the 2 RTR first saw action in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

with the advent of tank technology. It later fought in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1992, it merged with the

3rd Royal Tank Regiment The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army in existence from 1917 until 1992. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Cor ...

, keeping their own original title. It became the second regiment to be equipped with the

Challenger 2 The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MoD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom, Oman, and Ukraine. It was designed by Vickers Defence Systems (now Rheinmetall BAE Systems ...

in 1998. Sabre squadrons were deployed by the regiment to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

in 2003 and 2007. After a long period in

Fallingbostel Bad Fallingbostel (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bad Fambossel'') is the district town (''Kreisstadt'') of the Heidekreis, Heidekreis district in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Since 1976 the town has had a state-recognised Kneipp spa and ha ...

, Germany, the regiment moved back to Aliwal Barracks in

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, sout ...

in July 2007. On 25 June 2008 at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, both 1RTR and 2RTR were presented with their new Standard by The Queen, which included the new Battle Honour of Al Basrah 2003. Units were deployed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assi ...

in 2010. In August 2014 the regiment merged with 1RTR to form the

. The new regiment is based at Aliwal Barracks in Tidworth and is one of three armoured regiments equipped with the Challenger II tank.

2003 friendly fire incident

In March 2003 Sergeant Steven Roberts of 2 RTR was shot and killed near

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

in an incident of friendly fire. Another soldier in 2 RTR had been attempting to protect Sergeant Roberts from a stone-wielding Iraqi protester that he was struggling with, who also died. An inquest heard that the soldier responsible was not aware that the machine gun used was inaccurate at short ranges. The inquest found that the shooting was an accident and that Roberts died because the Army failed to provide him with Enhanced Combat Body Armour.

Organisation

The Armoured Regiment consisted of 5 Squadrons: * Nero Squadron - Headquarters and Support * Cyclops Squadron - Armoured Squadron * Badger Squadron - Armoured Squadron * Egypt Squadron - Armoured Squadron * Falcon Squadron - Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron

Commanding Officers

The Commanding Officers have been: , style="text-align:left; width:50%; vertical-align:top;", *1958–1960: Lt.-Col. Patrick R.C. Hobart: *1960–1963: Lt.-Col. A.R.E. Davis *1963–1965: Lt.-Col. John G.R. Allen *1965–1967: Lt.-Col. Douglas W.A. Ambidge *1967–1970: Lt.-Col. Thomas S.M. Welch *1970–1973: Lt.-Col. Geoffrey L.D. Duckworth *1973–1975: Lt.-Col. Michael J. Evans *1975–1977: Lt.-Col. Keith R. Ecclestone *1977–1979: Lt.-Col. Peter D. Bentley *1979–1980: Lt.-Col. William S. Bale *1980–1982: Lt.-Col. David A. Williams *1982–1984: Lt.-Col. Robert W.M. McAfee *1984–1987: Lt.-Col. Christopher J.A. Hammerbeck , style="text-align:left; width:50%; vertical-align:top;", *1987–1988: Lt.-Col. David W. Lloyd-Edwards *1988–1991: Lt.-Col. Andrew C.I. Gadsby *1991–1993: Lt.-Col. A. David Leakey *1993–1995: Lt.-Col. Stephen J.B. White *1995–1997: Lt.-Col. Nigel R.F. Aylwin-Foster *1997–2000: Lt.-Col. Simon Caraffi *2000–2002: Lt.-Col. Patrick J. Allison *2002–2004: Lt.-Col. Piers D.P. Hankinson *2004–2006: Lt.-Col. John R. Patterson *2006–2008: Lt.-Col. David A. Catmur *2008–2010: Lt.-Col. T. Marcus L. Simson *2010–2012: Lt.-Col. Marcus H. Evans *2012–2014: Lt.-Col. Jason M. Williams

References

External links

Official site

RTR Website

British Army Locations from 1945
British Army Locations from 1945.
Merseyside RTR
(Brian Gills website) {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 2-002 Royal Tank Regiment Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 2014