The 9th Royal Tank Regiment (9 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 ...

active 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 opposin ...

. 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 was reformed in late 1940 as a hostilities-only regiment.

History

The "original" 9th RTR was formed in December 1916 as the 9th Battalion, Heavy Branch

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 ...

and was designated I Battalion. The unit served at the Battle of Cambrai where, along with III Corps of the Third British Army, achieved complete surprise and pushed the German forces out of the town. Through the remainder of the War, the 9th were used to great effect, using the tactics they had learnt at Cambrai. The Battalion were awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes as a regimental decoration, an honour that is shared with only three other units in the

, all of which are infantry. The 9th were also awarded the honour of wearing the badge of General Bourgon's French 3rd Division. A replica of the badge was worn on the sleeve of everyone serving in the 9th Battalion, and later by everyone in the 9th RTR. The 9th took their unofficial motto from this badge: "''Qui s'y frotte, s'y brule''" which translates as "Touch me, and you burn". Although the exact details are not known, the 9th was disbanded after the war ended. The road to the 9th's reformation started in May 1940 when the majority of the 3rd Battalion RTR was destroyed near Calais, with only eight men returning to Britain. A number of the reinforcements intended for the 3rd Battalion RTR were hived off to become "a detachment of the 3rd Battalion", a Home Details Unit. Soon after this, in November 1940, the 9th Battalion RTR was created.

Service during World War 2

Despite forming in November 1940, it was not until mid-1941, when the regiment was based in

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

, that the 9th received the tanks it was to use in its role as a Heavy Tank Unit. The 9th RTR was one of the first units to be equipped with the

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

. These vehicles were almost identical to those used by the

Calgary Regiment The King's Own Calgary Regiment (RCAC), (''The King's Own'' or ''The KOCR''), is a Canadian Army armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces Primary Reserve. Headquartered at the Mewata Armoury in Calgary, Alberta, the KOCR is a ...

of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

in 1942.

Churchill tank Salisbury Plain Jan 1942 IWM H 16965

Between 1941 and 1944, the regiment moved around the country, from Otley, to

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, South Lancing,

Charing Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment. T ...

, and eventually

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

. Along with this, the regiment's tanks and their crews often moved around the country to various gunnery ranges, such as at

Bovington Camp Bovington Camp () is a British Army military base in Dorset, England. Together with Lulworth Camp it forms part of Bovington Garrison. The garrison is home to The Armour Centre and contains two barracks complexes and two forest and heathland tr ...

in Dorset and Castlemartin in Wales. The 9th finally went into action shortly after

D Day 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 D ...

, (weather conditions had not permitted them to land on the planned date). Some of the regiment was able to get on shore on 19 June, but a large part was held up for another two days. Shortly after its arrival in Normandy, 9th RTR (as part of 31st Tank Brigade), was involved in Montgomery's Operation ''Epsom'', the push inland to secure the Normandy Beachhead and the city of

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Grainville Grainville () is a former commune in the Eure department in northern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val d'Orger.Colleville, supporting

15th (Scottish) Infantry Division The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised on 2 September 1939, the day before war was declared, as part of the Territorial Army (TA) and served in ...

. After ''Epsom'', the 9th was part of Operation ''Jupiter'', the attack on Hill 112. The Hill was defended by elements of Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502, which led to heavy losses for the regiment, although eventually the Hill was retaken from the German Forces. The next major engagement for the 9th was the Falaise pocket. The regiment supported the 1st Canadian Army for the first part of the battle. However, it was soon returned to British command for the push east across the north of France, to take bridges across a number of rivers in the area. Following the rapid push east, the 9th RTR took part in the capture 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 ...

as part of Operation ''Astonia''. In a combined assault of land, naval and air forces, the port city of Le Havre was taken in three days, despite being considered "''one of the strongest fortresses of the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

''". Unlike previous operations, the regiment took very light casualties. The end of Operation ''Astonia'' led to a fortnight's rest for the regiment, after they had been fighting for around 100 days. After its rest period, 9th RTR moved into the Netherlands and took part in enlarging the Nijmegen Salient in support of the 51st (Highland) and 49th (West Riding) Divisions. Later on in the Dutch campaign, the 9th participated in Operations ''Rebound'' and ''Thruster'', which led to the capture of Roosendaal and aided the clearing of the banks of the

River Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

. Between late December 1944 and the end of January 1945, 9th RTR aided in victory in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, acting as a defensive force near Liege, under the command of the First US Army. 9 RTR Churchill tank Goch Germany Feb 1945 IWM B 14726

After the Ardennes, the 9th was attached to the

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 ...

for the battle in the

Reichswald A or imperial forest was an area of historic woodland which existed in the Holy Roman Empire and was under direct imperial control, protection and usage. may refer to: * , a nature reserve near Nuremberg ** , a section of the Nuremberg , which ...

, during early to mid-February 1945. Following this, the 9th, in support of the 52nd Lowland Division, pushed further into Germany. Between March and April, the 9th had an extended period of refitting and maintenance, repairing or replacing tanks that had travelled thousands of miles and participated in countless engagements, anticipating the final push across the

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

. The assault never truly came, the final tasks for the 9th was to clear and secure a small area of Germany.

Organisation

The main fighting element of the 9th RTR was split into the Regimental Headquarters consisting of six tanks and three squadrons, further split into Squadron HQs, which was made up of four tanks each, and five troops each with three tanks. In total, the 9th had 63 tanks, served by over 300 crew. Alongside the fighting elements was the recce troop, equipped with

Jeeps Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

and Daimler Dingo Scout Cars, and the Supply Section, which was in charge of providing the regiment with equipment, food and spare parts for the regiment's tanks. The structure of the Fighting Element of the regiment is shown below: Regimental HQ: Fighting Squadrons: * Officer Commanding
** Reconnaissance Officer
*** Armoured Recovery Vehicle

Officers of note in 9th RTR

*Commanding Officer:

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 ...

Sir Nugent Everard, Bart *Commanding Officer (European Campaign): Lieutenant Colonel Peter Norman (Berry) Veale( DSO, MC) *Regimental Quartermaster: Lieutenant Quartermaster Roland Patrick *A Squadron Commanding Officer:

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 ...

James Douglas Haddow Ballantine *B Squadron Commanding Officer: Major Michael Reynell *C Squadron Commanding Officer: Major Ronnie Holden ( DSO, MC)

External links

9th Royal Tank Regiment"Tank Tracks"; a history of 9th RTRMerseyside RTR
Brian Gill`s website)

History

Service during World War 2

Organisation

Officers of note in 9th RTR

External links

Further reading