3rd Royal Tank Regiment
Encyclopedia
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...
until 1992. It was 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 originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.
In 1939 it was retitled from 3rd Royal Tank Corps. In 1940, it was preparing to go to France as part of 1st Armoured Division when it was diverted at short notice to Calais. It fought during the four-day Siege of Calais
Siege of Calais (1940)
The Siege of Calais was a battle for the port and town of Calais during the German blitzkrieg which overran northern France in 1940. It immediately preceded Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force through Dunkirk....
. All its tanks were lost, and many personnel killed or taken prisoner, but some escaped to Dunkirk or were evacuated from Calais before the port fell.
The unit was subsequently rebuilt in the UK as part of 3rd Armoured Brigade, its original parent formation. Shipped to the Middle East, it was part of the British 1st Armoured Brigade
British 1st Armoured Brigade
The 1st Armoured Brigade was a regular British Army unit formed from the redesignation of the 1st Light Armoured Brigade on 3 September 1939.-Second World War History:...
when it went to Greece
Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...
to try to stem the German invasion in 1941.
In 1942, it briefly amalgamated with the 5th Royal Tank Regiment
5th Royal Tank Regiment
The 5th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1969. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps...
, as the 3rd/5th Royal Tank Regiment, returning to its previous title a month later. It formed part of 8th Armoured Brigade, fighting at El Alamein
Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein marked a major turning point in the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The battle took place over 20 days from 23 October – 11 November 1942. The First Battle of El Alamein had stalled the Axis advance. Thereafter, Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery...
, and in Tunisia
Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisia Campaign was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African Campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted of British Imperial Forces, including Polish and Greek contingents, with American and French corps...
. It later joined 29th Armoured Brigade and fought in Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
, Holland
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
as part of 11th Armoured Division.
In 1959, it amalgamated with the 6th Royal Tank Regiment
6th Royal Tank Regiment
The 6th Royal Tank Regiment 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:...
without change of title.
In the summer of 1989 the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment was deployed to N.Ireland in an infantry role. The first Armoured Regiment to do so for many years
In 1992, it amalgamated with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment
2nd Royal Tank Regiment
The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps...
.
Further reading
- Taming the panzers : Monty’s tank battalions : 3 RTR at war, by Patrick Delaforce. Sutton, 2000. ISBN 0-7509-2550-7 (2000), ISBN 0-7509-3197-3 (2003 pbk)
External links
- 3RTR - Armoured Farmers
- Merseyside RTR (Brian Gills website)