The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 RTR) was an armoured

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 ...

in existence from 1917 until 1992. 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 ...

. It originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.

History

British Stuart tank Germany May 1945 IWM BU 4972

In 1916 the Machine Gun Corps formed a Heavy Section, later Branch, in order to crew the first tanks. C Company was formed at Bisley and sent to France, after offensives in 1916 the Heavy Section became the Heavy Branch and "C" Company was expanded to Battalion strength. The Heavy Branch was then reformed in to a new Tank Corps and "C" Battalion then fought from

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

to the end of the war, being re-equipped with Whippet tanks in 1918. Lieutenant Cecil Sewell won the Battalion's only

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

for an outstanding act of bravery at Frémicourt in August of that year. Post war, the Tank Corps was trimmed down and received the Royal prefix with the lettered battalions being numbered and "C" became 3rd Tank Corps. In 1939 the 3 RTR was retitled from "3rd Royal Tank Regiment". With the outbreak of 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 ...

the army was once more deployed to France. In 1940, 3 RTR, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Keller, was preparing for deployment as part of 1st Armoured Division when it was diverted at short notice to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

. Here it fought during the four-day Siege of Calais, part of the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

. All of its tanks were lost, and many personnel were killed or taken prisoner, but some escaped to Dunkirk or were evacuated from Calais before the port fell. The regiment was subsequently rebuilt in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as part of 3rd Armoured Brigade, its original parent formation. Shipped to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, it was part of the 1st Armoured Brigade when it was sent to defend Greece to try to stem the German invasion in March 1941. From May to mid November 1941, there was a period of reorganisation in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. In 1942, it briefly amalgamated with the 5th Royal Tank Regiment, as the 3rd/5th Royal Tank Regiment, returning to its previous title a month later. It was then attached to 8th Armoured Brigade. 3 RTR was transferred back to the UK in late 1943 joining 29th Armoured Brigade of the 11th Armoured Division. After the war in 1959, it amalgamated with the 6th Royal Tank Regiment without change of title. In 1973 and again in 1974 the regiment was deployed to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

during

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. In 1992, 3 RTR amalgamated with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment under that name.

Commanding officers

The commanding officers have been: *1943-1944: Lt.-Col. David A. Silvertop (died Sint Anthonis, Netherlands) *1957–1959: Lt.-Col. Richard Ward *1959–1960: Lt.-Col. Peter A.L. Vaux *1960–1962: Lt.-Col. Allan Taylor *1962–1964: Lt.-Col. John C. Barras *1964–1966: Lt.-Col. David T. Grantham *1966–1969: Lt.-Col. Michael A. Sanders *1969–1971: Lt.-Col. Richard M. Jerram *1971–1973: Lt.-Col. John G.R. Dixon *1973–1976: Lt.-Col. Gregory Read *1976–1978: Lt.-Col. R. Christopher J. Dick *1978–1981: Lt.-Col. William A. Allen *1981–1983: Lt.-Col. Richard S. Evans *1983–1986: Lt.-Col. John Woodward *1986–1988: Lt.-Col. Michael J. Napper *1988–1991: Lt.-Col. Rodney W. Brummitt *1991–1992: Lt.-Col. Andrew Ridgway

Citations

References

3rd Royal Tank Regiment at regiments.org

Orders of Battle.com

External links

Merseyside RTR
Brian Gills website) {{RAC armoured regiments of the Second World War Military units and formations established in 1917 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992 3-003 Royal Tank Regiment

History

Commanding officers

See also

Citations

References

Further reading

External links