The 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (144 RAC) was an

armoured Armour (British 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, or fr ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Originally raised during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a battalion of the

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...

it was later transferred to the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

. It fought in the campaign in North-West Europe, from June 1944 to May 1945.

8th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment

The origin of 144th Regiment RAC was a

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

of men of the

in a Mixed Holding Battalion formed at

Huyton Huyton ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. Part of the Liverpool Urban Area, it borders the Liverpool suburbs of Dovecot, Knotty Ash and Belle Vale, and the neighbouring village of Roby, with which it f ...

, near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

early in

. The company formed the nucleus of the 50th (Holding) Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, and after the

Fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...

a draft of veterans from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was added and the battalion became the 8th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment.Frederick, pp. 12, 187. On 26 July 1941, 8th East Lancashires joined 226th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), a static defence brigade in

Dorset County Division The Dorset County Division was formed on 24 February 1941. However it did not take over operational commitments from Southern Area until March 10 and it did not finally assume command of its allocated infantry brigades until 24 April. It only h ...

. The battalion left on 19 November (shortly afterwards, the brigade was converted into 34th Army Tank Brigade).

144th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps

144th Regiment RAC was formed at

Rufford Abbey Rufford Abbey is a country estate in Rufford, Nottinghamshire, England, two miles (4 km) south of Ollerton. Originally a Cistercian abbey, it was converted to a country house in the 16th century after the Dissolution of the Monasteries ...

on 22 November 1941 by the conversion of the 8th East Lancashire Regiment to the armoured role. The

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

(CO),

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

S.T. James ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, remained in command. In common with other infantry battalions transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps, all personnel would have continued to wear their East Lancashire cap badge on the black beret of the RAC. 144th Regiment RAC was assigned to the

33rd Tank Brigade The 33rd Army Tank Brigade (later 33rd Tank Brigade) was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army raised during the Second World War. Origin 33rd Army Tank Brigade was created on 30 August 1941 under GHQ Home Forces to supervise the t ...

for training in the United Kingdom, and remained with this brigade for virtually its entire service. The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H23402

The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H23402

The regiment trained in the

infantry tank The infantry tank was a concept developed by the United Kingdom and France in the years leading up to World War II. Infantry tanks were designed to support infantrymen in an attack. To achieve this, the vehicles were generally heavily vehicle armo ...

('I' tank) role on

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 bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, a ...

s, and in the winter of 1942–43 was mobilised for the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It bega ...

. But the orders were changed, 144 RAC had to hand its Churchills over to a Canadian regiment, and was re-equipped instead with

Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...

s. The following autumn it reverted to Churchills, then finally, in the winter of 1943–44, it was converted back to Shermans for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. The training was also broadened and 33rd Tank Brigade was redesignated 33rd Armoured Brigade. The plan was still for it to land in the infantry tank role, supporting

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army. The division fought in the First World War in the trenches of the Western Front, in the fields of France and Flanders. During the Second World War, the divis ...

, but if one of the armoured divisions suffered heavy casualties, 33rd would be ready to switch roles and replace its armoured brigade. It was therefore equipped with a proportion of

Sherman Firefly The Sherman Firefly was a tank used by the United Kingdom and some armoured formations of other Allies in the Second World War. It was based on the US M4 Sherman, but was fitted with the more powerful 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre British 17- ...

tanks armed with the 17-pounder, and the tank gunners practised with this weapon at

Holkham Holkham is a small village and civil parish in north Norfolk, England, which includes a stately home and estate, Holkham Hall, and a beach, Holkham Gap, at the centre of Holkham National Nature Reserve. Geography The parish has an area of and ...

Field Firing Range.144 RAC War Diary April 1944, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 171/878. Lieutenant Colonel A. Jolly,

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 First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

, (later

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Alan Jolly), took command on 10 April 1944.

North-West Europe 1944–45

Elements of the 144th landed as early as 8 June 1944, they used Crusader Tanks with twin Oerlikons acting as infantry support for the 51st Highlanders. 144th Regiment RAC began to land in Normandy on 14 June 1944 and went into 'harbour' near Bayeux. 33rd Armoured Brigade had been delayed in landing, and its absence was sorely felt by the

British Second Army The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...

during the tough fighting around Villers-Bocage (13–16 June). As an independent brigade under GHQ, 33rd Armoured could be assigned to support any infantry division that required the assistance of tanks, it was usually split up, the regiments forming

Brigade group Brigade Enterprises Limited is a real estate and property development company that is based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The Brigade Group also has operations in Mangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chikmagalur, Ahmedabad and a repr ...

s with the infantry, with squadrons assigned to support individual battalions. During June and July 1944 the brigade moved between 49th (West Riding) Division, British

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

and

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...

as required.

Operation Pomegranate

Apart from reconnaissance on 8 July, in which the regiment captured some prisoners, 144 RAC's first action was during Operation Pomegranate, supporting the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division in an attack on Noyers. This was a deliberate infantry assault preceded by an

artillery barrage In military usage, a barrage is massed sustained artillery fire (shelling) aimed at a series of points along a line. In addition to attacking any enemy in the kill zone, a barrage intends to suppress enemy movements and deny access across tha ...

, with the tanks of 144 RAC in close support, assisted by flail tanks,

Churchill AVRE This is a list of specialist variants of the Churchill tank which were used for purposes other than frontline combat. Churchill Oke A Churchill II or III with a flamethrower. The Oke flamethrowing tank was named after its designer, Major J.M. ...

s with petard mortars, and

Churchill Crocodile The Churchill Crocodile was a British flame-throwing tank of late Second World War. It was a variant of the Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill Mark VII, although the Churchill Mark IV was initially chosen to be the base vehicle. The Crocod ...

flamethrower tanks, all from

79th Armoured Division The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy ...

, which operated

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...

's specialist armour.Jolly, ''The Battle of Noyers 16–18 July 1944'', Appendix to 144 RAC War Diary July 1944, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 171/878.Jolly pp. 16–33. The advance was badly hampered by minefields (both Allied and German), and 144 RAC had 20 tanks disabled, mostly by 'friendly' mines. This seriously reduced the force that could be used. The Official History records that 'Noyers was attacked again and again' for two days, but the garrison drawn from the 277th Infantry Division held out, except around the station and Point 126, which was taken at bayonet point by 'A' Company, 2/6th Battalion,

South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...

(part of 177th Brigade of 59th (Staffordshire) Division) following 'A' Squadron 144 RAC. In three days' fighting, 144 RAC lost 13 officers and other ranks killed, 9 missing, and 61 wounded. In addition to the tanks disabled by mines, it had five tanks 'brewed up', one written off and 11 damaged or ditched, as well as a scout car and a half-track lost. Lt-Col Jolly wrote a detailed report after the battle to highlight the tactical lessons learned. He commented that 144 RAC's earlier 'I' tank training had proved useful, even though it was now equipped with Shermans. Jolly became regarded as a good tactician, and infantry commanders bowed to his tactical judgement when planning joint operations. After Noyers, the regiment received a much-needed draft of replacements from 148 RAC, which was being disbanded.

Operation Astonia

From 3 August until 14 September, 33rd Armoured Brigade was attached to

51st (Highland) Infantry Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

. From 16 August 144 RAC regularly worked with 153rd (Highland) Brigade of 51st Highland. 'On arriving at Brigade Headquarters, Major Secretan found that he was to support the 1st Gordons, the beginning of a long association between B Squadron and that battalion ... this was really the beginning of our close connection with 153 Infantry Brigade, an association which was to continue for the remainder of the campaign. Each infantry battalion also grew accustomed to being supported by the same squadron and in this way very close ties of confidence and friendship were established between A Squadron and the 5th

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

, B squadron and the 1st Gordons, and between C Squadron and the 5/7th Gordons ... In order to make us feel part of the family, the 51st Highland Division asked us to wear the famous HD flash and issued every man in the brigade with one, a gesture which was very much appreciated'. On 8 September 144 RAC supported 153 Brigade in the assault on the German-held French port of

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

(

Operation Astonia Operation Astonia was the codename for an Allies of World War II, Allied attack on the German-held English Channel, Channel port of Le Havre in France, during the Second World War. The city had been declared a ''German World War II strongholds, Fe ...

). This involved clearing minefields and crossing an anti-tank ditch. For this operation, 144 RAC had under command the Sherman Crab flail tanks of C Squadron,

1st Lothians and Border Horse The Lothians and Border Horse was a Yeomanry regiment, part of the British Territorial Army. It was ranked 36th in the Yeomanry order of precedence and was based in the Scottish Lowland area, recruiting in the Lothians – East Lothian (Hadd ...

and tanks to lay scissors bridges. This operation was successful.

New role

In January 1945, 144 RAC operated with

53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division The 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both the First and Second World Wars. Originally raised in 1908 as the Welsh Division, part of the Territorial Force (TF), the division saw service in ...

in the British counter-attacks against the northern side of the 'Bulge' developed by the German

Ardennes offensive The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

.144 RAC War Diary January–February 1944, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 171/4720. Then, on 18 January, 33rd Armd Brigade became part of

; from 30 January, 144 RAC re-equipped with Buffalo LVT amphibious vehicles to begin training for the assault crossing of the Rhine.

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Martin Lindsay, second-in-command of 1st Battalion

Gordon Highlanders Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

, wrote: 'We had a party for Bob Secretan and his officers. It was a sad occasion for they

44 RAC 44 may refer to: * 44 (number) * one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military *44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II *44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas t ...

were giving up their Sherman tanks to be converted into an amphibious regiment. We had had this squadron supporting us on most of our operations since Normandy, and could not have wished for a better. They looked on themselves as being almost Gordon Highlanders'. (By contrast, 1st Gordons was supported in its next operation by a troop of Churchill tanks from 107 RAC, whose performance Lindsay described as 'The windiest and wettest imaginable').

New identity

On 1 March 1945, 144 RAC was redesignated 4th Royal Tank Regiment to replace the original 4 RTR, which had been captured at

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...

in the North African Campaign in 1942. It happened that the band of the

was touring the NW Europe theatre, so they played the regimental march for the final parade of 144 RAC on 28 February, to mark the original link with the 8th Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment. The first parade of the new regiment the following day was inspected by

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

John Crocker General Sir John Tredinnick Crocker, (4 January 1896 – 9 March 1963) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both world wars. He served as both a private soldier and a junior officer in the First World War, and as a distinguished br ...

, commander of

and the most senior RTR officer in the theatre. The RTR band played the regimental march, ''My Boy Willie'' and each man wore a new black beret and RTR badge, specially sent from England by the Director, RAC. They also adopted the blue shoulder flash of 4 RTR. Under its new title, the regiment took part in

Operation Plunder Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...

, ferrying troops of 51st (Highland) Division across the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

on the night of 23/24 March 1945. On landing, Lt-Col Jolly planted the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

standard of the original 4th RTR (D Battalion Tank Corps) on the far bank. 4 RTR continued postwar as a regular regiment of the British Army.Home Page
/ref>

Commanding officers

* Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart James, DSO, (East Lancashire Regiment) ''22 November 1941 – 9 April 1944'' * Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Jolly, DSO, (Royal Tank Regiment) ''10 April 1944 – 28 February 1945''

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Maj L. F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West'', Volume I: ''The Battle of Normandy'', London: HMSO, 1962/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * Maj L. F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West'', Volume II: ''The Defeat of Germany'', London: HMSO, 1968/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * George Forty, ''British Army Handbook 1939–1945'', Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1998, . * J.B.M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, . * Alan Jolly, '' Blue Flash: The Story of an Armoured Regiment'', London 1952. * * Lt-Col Martin Lindsay, ''So Few Got Through'', London: Collins, 1946/Arrow Books (pbk; nd)/Leo Cooper, 2000, . Page references are to Arrow edition. * Tim Saunders, ''Operation Plunder: The British and Canadian Rhine Crossing'', Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2006, . {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1941 Regiments of the Royal Armoured Corps Royal Armoured Corps 144 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945