The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 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 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 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 C Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.

History

British Stuart tank Germany May 1945 IWM BU 4972

In 1916 the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

formed a Heavy Section, later Branch, in order to crew the first

tanks A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine ...

. 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 An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other armo ...

and "C" Battalion then fought from

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

to the end of the war, being re-equipped with

Whippet The Whippet is a dog breed of medium size. It is a sighthound breed that originated in England, descended from the Greyhound. Whippets today still strongly resemble a smaller Greyhound. Part of the hound group, Whippets have relatively few ...

tanks in 1918. Lieutenant

Cecil Sewell Cecil Harold Sewell VC (27 January 1895 – 29 August 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. One of nine chi ...

won the Battalion's only

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

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, 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 ...

the army was once more deployed to France. In 1940, 3 RTR, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel

Reginald Keller Brigadier Reginald Charles Keller (5 August 1894 – 30 October 1986) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. Early life and First World War The son of Charles Keller, he was born at Fareham, Hampshire. Keller was educat ...

, was preparing for deployment as part of 1st Armoured Division when it was diverted at short notice to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

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

Battle 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 Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

. 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, 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 ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. 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. After the war in 1959, it amalgamated with the

6th Royal Tank Regiment The 6th Royal Tank Regiment (6 RTR) was a regiment of the Royal Tank Regiment, of the British Army, until 1959. It originally saw action as 6th Battalion Tank Corps in 1917. First World War When tanks were first used in action in 1916, they wer ...

without change of title. In 1973 and again in 1974 the regiment was deployed to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

. In 1992, 3 RTR amalgamated with the

2nd Royal Tank Regiment The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps and the 1st Mechanized Brigade. History Founded as B Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917 ...

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 Lieutenant General Sir Andrew Peter Ridgway, (born 20 March 1950) is a former British Army officer and Lieutenant Governor of Jersey. He was appointed to the latter role for a 5-year term on 14 June 2006 after a long military career. Early life ...

Citations

References

3rd Royal Tank Regiment at regiments.org

Orders of Battle.com

External links

Merseyside RTR
Brian Gills website) 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