49th Royal Tank Regiment
| 49th Regiment Royal Tank Regiment | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1939–1945 |
| Disbanded | 13 December 1945 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Armoured regiment |
| Role | Specialised armour |
| Part of | Royal Armoured Corps |
49th Royal Tank Regiment (49 RTR), later 49th Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment and 49th Armoured Carrier Regiment, was a regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II that operated specialised armoured fighting vehicles in North West Europe.
Origin and training
As part of the rearmament of the British Army before World War II, the 6th Battalion
In August 1939, 49 RTR had still not received any tanks, so it mobilised as an infantry unit, and spent the Phoney War 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 for the regimental headquarters) plus some old cars. In May, the regiment moved to Catterick Camp to begin armoured training.[3]
At the end of May 1940, with the
In August, 49 RTR and the rest of the brigade moved to
Now 49 RTR returned its 'Tillies' to store and began intensive infantry tank training on the South Downs with new Matilda II tanks. It finally adopted the usual 'A', 'B' and 'C' designations for its squadrons.[3] 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
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
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,[10] 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 tanks, similar to Shermans, with their turrets removed to transport an infantry section).[3] Each squadron could carry one battalion. First Canadian Army already had an APC regiment (1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment), and 49 APCR would perform the same role for Second British Army.[12]
Operational career
49 RTR finally went into action on the night of 13/14 November 1944, ferrying forward troops of
On 3 December, 49 APCR took part in Operation Guildford, the assault on Blerick, a heavily defended suburb of the Dutch town of Venlo. 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 and 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers) close to their objectives and, although some Kangaroos were disabled by mines, the squadrons returned for two more battalions.[3] In the words of the Official History, 'from that point the taking of the town proved to be a walk-over'.[14]
During February 1945 49 APCR was kept busy during Operation Veritable, the advance on Kleve, and made newspaper headlines by the manner in which they forced their way into Goch.[3][15]
For the assault crossing of the Rhine, Operation Plunder, 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.[3][16]
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.[3]
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.[3]
Notes
- ^ "6th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers at regiments.org by T.F.Mills". Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 27 December 2005.
- ^ 43 RTR War Diary August 1940, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 166/1414.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Scull.
- ^ Joslen, p. 203.
- ^ Joslen, pp. 203, 211.
- ^ 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade War Diary July 1940, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 166/1135.
- ^ 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade War Diary August 1940, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 166/1135.
- ^ a b Scull
- ^ 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade War Diary October–December 1940, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 166/1135.
- ^ a b Joslen, p. 195.
- ^ Nottinghamshire (Sherwood Rangers) Yeomanry War Diary October 1944, The National Archives, Kew, file WO 171/861
- ^ Ellis, p. 384.
- ^ Horrocks, p. 250.
- ^ Ellis, p. 160.
- ^ Ellis, p. 267.
- ^ Saunders, p. 58.
References
- ISBN 1-845740-59-9.
- Lt-Gen Sir Brian Horrocks, A Full Life, London: Collins, 1960.
- Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- 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 Commonwealth[dead link]
- Merseyside RTR (Brian Gill's website)