49th Royal Tank Regiment (49 RTR), later 49th Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment and 49th Armoured Carrier Regiment, was a 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 Gurkha ...

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 ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

that operated specialised

armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by armour, generally combining operational mobility with offensive and defensive capabilities. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked. Examples of AFVs are tanks, armoured cars, ...

s in North West Europe.

Origin and training

As part of the rearmament of the British Army before World War II, the 6th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, a Territorial Army infantry battalion, was converted to the armoured role on 1 November 1938, under the designation 43rd (6th City) Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Tank Regiment, or '43 RTR' for short. During 1939, it formed 49 RTR as a duplicate regiment. The regiments shared St George's Drill Hall in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

as their depot. While 43 RTR used the conventional 'A', 'B' and 'C' squadron designations, 49 RTR adopted 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' for its squadrons.Scull. Both regiments were part of

25th Army Tank Brigade The 25th Army Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army that was active before and during the Second World War. It served with the British First Army and the British Eighth Army during the battles in North Africa and It ...

. In August 1939, 49 RTR had still not received any tanks, so it mobilised as an infantry unit, and spent the

Phoney War The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germa ...

on guard duty in North East England. In April 1940, it finally received a few old tanks for instruction (one Vickers Medium per squadron, and one

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

for the regimental headquarters) plus some old cars. In May, the regiment moved to

Catterick Camp Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 13,000 in 2017 and covering over 2,400 acres (about ...

to begin armoured training. 49 RTR Matilda tank Dover Oct 1941 IWM H 14960

At the end of May 1940, with the British Expeditionary Force being evacuated from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.

and the imminent threat of German invasion of England, 25th Army Tank Brigade was redesignated 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade and its regiments reorganised accordingly. Each MMG squadron consisted of three troops, each with six Austin Utility ('Tilly') two-seat cars, two carrying Vickers medium machine guns, two

Bren light machine gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used ...

s and two

Boys anti-tank rifle The Boys anti-tank rifle (officially Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55in, Boys, and sometimes incorrectly spelled "Boyes"), is a British anti-tank rifle used during the Second World War. It was often nicknamed the " elephant gun" by its users due to its ...

s. In July 1940, volunteers from the units of 25th Army Tank Brigade formed No 5 Troop of No. 5 Commando at Bridlington. In August, 49 RTR and the rest of the brigade moved to

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

to guard the coastline with machine gun posts along the cliffs and sand dunes.Scull In November 1940, the brigade moved to the

Dukeries The Dukeries is an area of the county of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats. It is south of Worksop, which has been called its "gateway". The area was included within the ancient Sherwood Forest. The ducal seats wer ...

area of

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

for armoured training; 49 RTR was posted to

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 ...

but soon afterwards left the brigade and joined 1st Army Tank Brigade at

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

.Joslen, p. 195. Now 49 RTR returned its 'Tillies' to store and began intensive

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 armoured to ...

training on the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

with new Matilda II tanks. It finally adopted the usual 'A', 'B' and 'C' designations for its squadrons. Later in 1941, the regiment came once more under 25th Army Tank Brigade, which had reconverted from the motor machine gun role and moved to the South Coast.

Specialised armour

In January 1942, 49 RTR moved to Lowther Castle, near Penrith, to train in a new role as a night fighting tank battalion equipped with

Canal Defence Light The Canal Defence Light (CDL) was a British "secret weapon" of the Second World War, based upon the use of a powerful carbon-arc searchlight mounted on a tank. It was intended to be used during night-time attacks, when the light would allow ene ...

s (CDLs). These carried a powerful searchlight fitted to a Matilda tank, replacing the turret and main armament. In July 1943, the Matilda CDLs were replaced by

Grant tank The M3 Lee, officially Medium Tank, M3, was an American medium tank used during World War II. The turret was produced in two forms, one for US needs and one modified to British requirements to place the radio next to the commander. In Commonweal ...

CDLs, which retained the 75 mm main gun in a sponson. During this period, 49 RTR joined 35th Army Tank Brigade, which later formed part of 79th Armoured Division, which concentrated all the specialised armour units training for the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

. 49 RTR landed in France on 12 August 1944 as part of 1st Tank Brigade in 79th Armoured, but there was no call for CDLs in the Normandy campaign. The regiment was issued with conventional Sherman gun tanks in addition to their Grant CDLs, and during October, 49 RTR supplied Sherman crews to other regiments that required reinforcements; 3 complete troops (about 40 men and 2 officers) to the

Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry (SRY) was a British Yeomanry regiment. In 1967 it was amalgamated with other units to form the Royal Yeomanry (RY), a light cavalry regiment of the Army Reserve. Originally raised as the Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Ca ...

on 7 October; 10 crews to the

Royal Scots Greys The Royal Scots Greys was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1707 until 1971, when they amalgamated with the 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards) to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The regiment's history began in 16 ...

and 12 drivers to the 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) on 17 October). Next, the Grant CDLs were returned to the training unit at Lowther. The whole of 1st Tank Brigade was being broken up to provide drafts to other regiments, and it appeared that 49 RTR was to share that fate. However, reduced to two squadrons ('A' and 'C'), the regiment was redesignated "49th Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment" (49 APCR) and re-equipped with Ram Kangaroos (obsolete Canadian-built

Ram tank The Tank, Cruiser, Ram was a cruiser tank designed and built by Canada in the Second World War, based on the U.S. M3 Medium tank chassis. Due to standardization on the American Sherman tank for frontline units, it was used exclusively for tra ...

s, similar to Shermans, with their turrets removed to transport an infantry section). Each squadron could carry one battalion.

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 ...

already had an APC regiment (

1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment ("Bearing Armed Men") , colours= Orange and Black , identification_symbol= , identification_symbol_label= , identification_symbol_3= , identification_symbol_3_label= , march= , mascot= , Beret= , battles = , notable_commanders= Gordon Minto C ...

), and 49 APCR would perform the same role for Second British Army.

Operational career

IWM-BU-2956-Ram-Kangaroo-Ochtrup-19450403

49 RTR finally went into action on the night of 13/14 November 1944, ferrying forward troops of 51st (Highland) Infantry Division. The value of the new vehicles was soon appreciated. Lieutenant-General

Brian Horrocks Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, (7 September 1895 – 4 January 1985) was a British Army officer, chiefly remembered as the commander of XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden and other operations during the Second World W ...

, commanding XXX Corps, later wrote that Kangaroos 'proved a great boon in the closing stages of the war... I once saw a whole brigade of the 51st Highland Division in these vehicles being heavily shelled by the Germans. I thought their casualties were bound to be high, but they had only two men wounded'. On 3 December, 49 APCR took part in Operation Guildford, the assault on

Blerick Blerick (; li, Bliërik ; ) is a city district of the Dutch municipality of Venlo. It lies on the west bank of the Meuse and its origin goes back to the Roman era as a military stronghold and settlement en route from Mosa Trajectum (Maastricht) ...

, a heavily defended suburb of the Dutch town of

Venlo Venlo () is a city and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg, about 50 km east of the city of Eindhoven, 65 km north east of the provincial capital Maastricht, a ...

. The Kangaroos advanced behind a creeping barrage along lanes cut through the minefields and anti-tank ditch by flail tanks and bridgelaying tanks. They delivered the attacking infantry (8th Battalion

Royal Scots The Royal Scots (The Royal Regiment), once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regime ...

and 6th Battalion

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

) close to their objectives and, although some Kangaroos were disabled by mines, the squadrons returned for two more battalions. In the words of the Official History, 'from that point the taking of the town proved to be a walk-over'. Ram Kangaroo 1 Bovington

During February 1945 49 APCR was kept busy during

Operation Veritable Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the Second World War. The operation was conduc ...

, the advance on

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

, and made newspaper headlines by the manner in which they forced their way into Goch. For the assault crossing of the Rhine,

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 ...

, 49 APCR formed 'B' Independent Squadron. This was equipped with Grant CDLs, brought back from Lowther. The operation was carried out under 'artificial moonlight' (searchlights shining onto the cloud cover) and during the assault on Rees by the 51st (Highland) Division the Grants both illuminated the crossing and engaged the enemy on the far bank with their 75mm guns. Meanwhile, A and C Sqns ferried Highlanders forward to the crossing points.Saunders, p. 58. Once over the Rhine and until the end of the campaign, Kangaroos were used extensively to move infantry forward rapidly over territory recaptured from the enemy. 49 APCR formed 'F' Squadron to increase the number of vehicles available. As a hostilities-only unit, 49 RTR was quickly disbanded after the end of World War II, a process that was complete by 13 December 1945.

Notes

References

* Major L. F. Ellis, "History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: Victory in the West", Vol II: "The Defeat of Germany", London: HM Stationery Office, 1968/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, . * Lt-Gen Sir Brian Horrocks, ''A Full Life'', London: Collins, 1960. * * Tim Saunders, ''Operation Punder: The British and Canadian Rhine Crossing'', Barnelsey: Pen and Sword, 2006. * L. V. Scull, ''49th Unparalleled: the Story of the 49th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment, later designated as an Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment, 1939-1945'', 2002.

External links

Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and CommonwealthMerseyside RTR
Brian Gill's website) {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1939 Royal Tank Regiment Royal Tank Regiment 049