The 1st Royal Tank Regiment (1 RTR) is an armoured regiment

Cavalry regiments of the British Army

There are currently nine regular cavalry regiments of the British Army, with two tank regiments provided by the Royal Tank Regiment, traditionally classed alongside the cavalry, for a total of eleven regiments. Of these, five serve as armoured regiments, and five as formation reconnaissance...

 of the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment

Royal Tank Regiment

The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...

, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps

Royal Armoured Corps

The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...

. It was originally formed as 1st (Light) Battalion, Royal Tank Corps in 1934.

In 1993, it amalgamated with the 4th Royal Tank Regiment

4th Royal Tank Regiment

The 4th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1993. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps...

 without change of title. It incorporated both the original regiment's traditional recruiting areas of Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

 and Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The new regiment also adopted the strong Scottish connections of the 4th RTR, taking on the former regiment's pipes and drums, which wear the Hunting Rose tartan.
The Regiment Colours symbolise the phrase "From the Mud(brown), Through the blood(red) to the green fields beyond."
In 1999, two squadrons were split off as part of the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Regiment amalgamating with No. 27 Squadron

No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment

No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment is a field squadron of the RAF Regiment in the Royal Air Force. Its mission is protection of RAF bases from ground attack. The squadron's current HQ is at RAF Honington. The motto of 27 Squadron is Defensores Defendo . - History :No. 27 Squadron RAF Regiment was formed...

, RAF Regiment

RAF Regiment

The Royal Air Force Regiment is a specialist airfield defence corps founded by Royal Warrant in 1942. After a 32 week trainee gunner course, its members are trained and equipped to prevent a successful enemy attack in the first instance; minimise the damage caused by a successful attack; and...

, and two squadrons of the Royal Yeomanry

Royal Yeomanry

The Royal Yeomanry is an armoured regiment of the Territorial Army consisting of five squadrons and a military band:*A Squadron *B Squadron...

. The Regimental March is Lippe Detmold.

Associated Cadet Forces

Mildenhall Detachment of the Suffolk Army Cadet Force. Mildenhall ACF Website
Cadbury Heath Detachment of the Bristol Army Cadet Force.

External links

• Official site
• Merseyside RTR (Brian Gills website)
• British Army Locations from 1945 British Army Locations from 1945