The Tank Museum is the regimental museum for the Royal Tank Regiment, the oldest tank unit in the world. The original Museum collection was established at Bovington Camp in the 1920s and 1930s by the Royal Tank Corps.
The First World War: The Tank Corps
Originally formed as the Heavy Section Machine Gun Corps, tanks first saw action at the Somme, when on 15 September 1916, 49 Mark I tanks joined the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. This was the first time tanks had been employed by anyone on a battlefield.
In November 1916, the Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps moved from Elveden Camp to Bovington, a more suitable area to train on and expand. As the tank was new, the Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps had to devise appropriate training and tactics to use the tanks as well to maintain them had to be devised.
On 28 July 1917, the Tank Corps was officially established. The Tanks Corps’ most famous battle during the First World War was on 20 November 1917, when nine battalions, 386 Mark IV tanks breached the German Hindenburg Line in the first truly combined arms attack in history. Cambrai Day has been commemorated by the Regiment on each anniversary ever since.
Interwar Years: The Royal Tank Corps
The immediate post-war period saw the Tank Corps rapidly contract in size from 25 tank battalions to five tank battalions and eleven armoured car companies. The question was raised as to whether the Tank Corps should be amalgamated into another Corps such as the Royal Engineers. However, by late 1923, the Corps’ long-term future was assured with the Corps Colonel-in-Chief, his Majesty, King George V, confirming that they were to be granted the distinction of ‘Royal’ and henceforward would become the Royal Tank Corps.
During the period of inter-war ‘Mechanisation’, the Royal Tank Corps started to trial new tactics and doctrine, with the establishment of the Experimental Mechanised Force in 1926-27 and the Armoured Force in the early 1930s. Armoured car companies and subsequently light tank companies and tank battalions were despatched to Ireland, India, Iraq and Egypt, keeping the Royal Tank Corps busy in the lead up to the Second World War.
The Second World War: The Royal Tank Regiment
With war on the horizon in April 1939, the decision was taken to create a Royal Armoured Corps. The Royal Tank Corps became the Royal Tank Regiment and joined the Cavalry and Yeomanry Regiments in the newly formed Royal Armoured Corps.
The Second World War would see the Royal Tank Regiment expand to 24 regiments as well as dummy formations, with `Tankies’ now fighting in every theatre of the War.
The Royal Tank Regiment were mostly equipped with infantry tanks such as the Matilda II, Valentine and Churchill, but could also be found crewing Light Tanks like the M3 Stuart in depths of the Burmese Jungle during the miraculous fighting retreat from Rangoon in 1942.
Famous Royal Tank Regiment actions include the Battle of Arras in May 1940, the siege of Calais in May 1940, El Alamein in 1942, and the capture of Tiger 131 in Tunisia on 24 April 1943. The Royal Tank Regiment fought through Sicily, Italy, North-West Europe and into the heartland of Germany to defeat the Nazis.
1945 to the Present Day
Post-War saw another reduction in the size of the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), with the remaining units spending time rotating through Germany as part of The British Army of the Rhine (1945 – 1951). The 1950s would see 1RTR, 5RTR and 7RTR serve in Korea, whilst Centurions of 6RTR were part of the amphibious force used at Suez and the Canal Zone in 1956. Royal Tank Regiment personnel have been deployed on multiple occasions in more modern conflicts such as 1991s Desert Storm and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with RTR spearheading the attack and subsequent deployment in Afghanistan.
Amalgamations have been part and parcel of the Royal Tank Regiment’s existence, with the final merger of 1RTR and 2RTR occurring on 2 August 2014 leaving one remaining Royal Tank Regiment equipped with Challenger 2s based at Tidworth. On 11 August 2023, Buckingham Palace confirmed that His Majesty, King Charles III, would adopt the role of Colonel-In-Chief from the late Queen Elizabeth II, continuing the reigning Monarch’s tradition from 1918.
“From the Mud, Through the Blood, to the Green Fields Beyond”
The Royal Tank Regiment’s distinctive brown, red and green regimental colours can be seen flying daily from the Museum’s flagpole. These colours were chosen by Brigadier General Elles’ wife before the battle of Cambrai and represent the fighting “from the mud, through the blood, to the green fields beyond”.
Reminders of Royal Tank Regiment heritage can be found throughout The Tank Museum, including a preserved mosaic with the RTRs motto FEARNAUGHT and plaques with accompanying dates on floors and walls.
The Museum showcases the Royal Tank Regiment’s history, from the original regimental flag from the Battle of Cambrai to examples of the RTRs distinctive Black Beret and black overalls, which were adopted in the 1920s and have been worn ever since.
