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

during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of 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 ...

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

s. During preliminary engagements before the

Battle of Longstop Hill The 2nd Battle of Longstop Hill or the Capture of Longstop Hill took place in Tunisia during the Tunisia Campaign of World War II from 21 to 23 April 1943. The battle was fought for control over the heights of Djebel el Ahmera and Djebel Rhar, t ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, 1943 it disabled a German

Tiger I The Tiger I () was a German heavy tank of World War II that operated beginning in 1942 in Africa and in the Soviet Union, usually in independent heavy tank battalions. It gave the German Army its first armoured fighting vehicle that mounted ...

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

Tiger 131 Tiger 131 is a German Tiger I heavy tank captured by the British 48th Royal Tank Regiment 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. G ...

History

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

. * 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