5th Royal Tank Regiment (5 RTR) 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 ...

in existence for 52 years, from 1917 until 1969. 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 First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

, 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 A ...

. It originally saw action as E Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917. At the Battle of Cambrai in late 1917, during the

First World War 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 ...

, the squadron of tanks led by Arthur George Griffiths made a huge impact on the battle. The commanding general asked for the squadron of tanks to be doubled in size, and so Griffiths's squadron evolved into the 5th Tank Regiment. The regiment saw wide-ranging service in 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 opposin ...

, and fought in nearly all of the major allied campaigns from the 1940 retreat from France through the Western Desert Campaign,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and on into Germany. It became part of the 22nd Armoured Brigade, of the 7th Armoured Division. In December 1946, the regiment was the first to use

Centurion tank The Centurion was the primary British Army main battle tank of the post-World War II period. Introduced in 1945, it is widely considered to be one of the most successful post-war tank designs, remaining in production into the 1960s, and seeing ...

s in regular service. In 1960, under the command of Hugo Ironside, it amalgamated with

8th Royal Tank Regiment The 8th Royal Tank Regiment (8 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1960. 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 to ...

without change of title. It was disbanded in 1969. The 5th Royal Tank Regiment Reunion Association holds annual reunions. In 2007, an image of a 1944 tank commander in the 5th Royal Tank Regiment uniform was used on one of a series of

Royal mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

stamps featuring British Army uniforms.

Commanding officers

The commanding officers included: *1959–1960: Lt.-Col. Allan Taylor *1960–1961: Lt.-Col. Hugo Ironside *1961–1963: Lt.-Col. Edward Anstey *1963–1966: Lt.-Col. Peter E. Dey *1966–1968: Lt.-Col. Roy L.C. Dixon *1968–1969: Lt.-Col. Richard Lawson

References

External links

5th Royal Tank Regiment at regiments.org5th Royal Tank Regiment Reunion Association website Merseyside RTR
Brian Gills website) 5-005 {{UK-mil-unit-stub