The 48th Royal Tank Regiment (48 RTR) was an armoured regiment 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 ...

during 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 ...

. 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 was originally formed as a duplicate of the 42nd Royal Tank Regiment, a newly mobilised Territorial Army unit formerly the 23rd (County of London) Battalion. It was part of the 21st Army Tank Brigade equipped with

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple Bogie#Tracked vehicles, bogies, its ability to ...

s. During preliminary engagements before the Battle of Longstop Hill in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

, 1943 it disabled a German

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a Nazi Germany, German heavy tank of World War II that began operational duty in 1942 in North African Campaign, Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent German heavy tank battalion, heavy tank battalions. It g ...

tank; it was sent back to UK and is currently the only operating Tiger tank in the world,

Tiger 131 Tiger 131 is a Nazi Germany, German Tiger I heavy tank captured by the British Army in Tunisia during World War II. Preserved at The Tank Museum in Bovington in Dorset, England, it is currently the only operational Tiger I in the world. German ...

History

* 1798 Newington Surrey (Sic) Volunteers. * Loyal Southwark Volunteers * 1859 7th Surrey Rifles * (c) 1885 4th Volunteer Battalion The

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

* 1908 23rd Battalion The East Surrey Regiment * 1928 23rd London regiment ( The East Surrey Regiment) * 1937 7th (23rd London) Battalion The East Surrey Regiment * November 1938 42nd Battalion Royal Tank Corps. * April 1939 48th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (R.A.C.)This info from a Regimental Christmas card sent to a family in 1940 by a member of the regiment.

References

External links

Merseyside RTR
Brian Gill's website) Royal Tank Regiment {{UK-mil-unit-stub

History

References

Further reading

External links