108th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps

Last updated
108th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Lancashire Fusiliers)
Active1941–1943
Disbanded1943
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Flag of the British Army.svg British Army
TypeArmoured Regiment
RoleCruiser tank
Infantry Support
Training
Part of Royal Armoured Corps
Anniversaries Gallipoli Day (25 April)
Minden Day (1 August)
Equipment Cruiser Mk I
Cruiser Mk II
Cruiser Mk IIa
Covenanter
Crusader
Valentine
Churchill
Sherman V

The 108th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (The Lancashire Fusiliers) (108 RAC) was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II.

Contents

Origin and traditions

108th Regiment RAC was formed at Barnard Castle on 1 November 1941 by the conversion to the armoured role of 1/5th (Bury) Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, a 1st Line Territorial Army infantry battalion. [1] [2] 1/5th Battalion had been serving in 125th Infantry Brigade of 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division, which were redesignated 10th Armoured Brigade and 42nd Armoured Division respectively. All three regiments in the brigade were drawn from the Lancashire Fusiliers and underwent simultaneous conversion (the other two became 109 RAC and 143 RAC). [3]

The regiment was intensely proud of its Lancashire Fusiliers heritage, and always included the name in its RAC designation. [4] Soon after its conversion, the 108th's officers were ordered to wear the black beret of the RAC with their battledress uniform; [5] but in common with other infantry units transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps, personnel would have continued to wear their Lancashire Fusiliers cap badge on the beret. [1] 108 RAC also continued the Lancashire Fusiliers' commemoration of Gallipoli Day (25 April) and Minden Day (1 August). Minden Day was celebrated by Trooping the Colour, a drum-head service, and regimental sports, followed by the officers visiting the men at dinner. [6]

Training

In January and February 1942 the regiment began to receive its first Covenanter tanks, some "in extremely poor condition". [7] In May 1942, 10th Armoured Brigade was converted into 10th Tank Brigade. This meant that its role was changed from Cruiser to Infantry tanks, and 108 RAC began to receive Valentines and Churchills in place of Covenanters, which were passed on to the newly formed 1st Polish Armoured Division. [8] [9] The brigade also moved to the 'Dukeries' area of Nottinghamshire where RAC infantry tank training was carried out: 108 RAC moved to Rufford Abbey in June 1942.

In October 1942, 10th Tank Brigade was attached to 48th (South Midland) Division, a Reserve infantry division tasked with holding and training reinforcements. [10] In December the Brigade and its regiments were given the role of producing drafts for RAC units serving overseas. [11] Consequently, in January 1943 108 RAC reorganised into three training wings:

The regiment now held a very mixed collection of tanks, including Cruiser Mk I, Cruiser Mk II, Cruiser Mk IIa, Cruiser Mk III, Cruiser Mk IV, and Covenanters, Valentine and Churchill infantry tanks, and later some Sherman Vs. Throughout 1943, men were posted into the regiment from RAC training regiments, and posted out to drafts for overseas service. [12]

Disbandment

In August 1943, rumours began to circulate that 10th Tank Brigade was scheduled for disbandment. Members of Parliament for the Lancashire towns complained about the possible loss of their TA battalions, and a recruiting team arrived to persuaded men to volunteer for the Parachute Regiment if the brigade disbanded. Although 10th Tank Brigade moved to Wensleydale in September, with 108 RAC at Wensley village, the impending disbandment was confirmed shortly afterwards. [13] [14]

On 22 November the final announcement was received that 108 RAC would be disbanded by the end of the year, and 1/5th Lancashire Fusiliers would go into a state of suspended animation. Some officers were sent for retraining as infantry officers, but most of the officers and other ranks were posted to other RAC units or training regiments, with a few wireless operators transferring to the Royal Corps of Signals and gunners to the Royal Artillery. [15]

Postwar, 5th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers was reconstituted in the Territorial Army 1947. [16]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Forty pp. 50–1.
  2. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diary, November 1941, The National Archives, Kew (TNA) file WO 166/1425.
  3. ↑ Joslen, pp. 29, 68, 164, 310.
  4. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diaries 1941–43, TNA files WO 166/1425, 166/6928, WO166/11101.
  5. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diary, 26 November 1941, TNA file WO 166/1425.
  6. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diaries, April & August 1942, TNA file WO 166/6928; August 1943, file WO 166.11101.
  7. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diaries, January & February 1942, TNA file WO 166/6928.
  8. ↑ Joslen, pp. 164, 198.
  9. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diary, May 1942, TNA file WO 166/6928.
  10. ↑ Joslen, p. 198.
  11. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diary, 22 December 1942, TNA file WO 166/6928.
  12. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diaries, 1943, TNA file WO 166/11101.
  13. ↑ 10th Armoured Brigade War Diaries August & September 1943, TNA file WO 166/10742.
  14. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diaries, August & September 1943, TNA file WO 166/11101.
  15. ↑ 108th Regiment RAC War Diaries, November & December 1943, TNA file WO 166/11101.
  16. ↑ "5th Battalion, the Lancashire Fusiliers [UK]". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 13 January 2022.

Related Research Articles

The 45th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Territorial Army that fought at the Battle of Alamein during World War II and continued to serve during the 1950s.

The 43rd Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps that tested and demonstrated specialised Armoured Fighting Vehicles during World War II.

49th Royal Tank Regiment, 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.

The 10th Armoured Brigade was a short-lived armoured brigade of the British Army in the Second World War. It had been converted in November 1941 from infantry battalions, but had never seen action and was disbanded in late 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 42nd Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army raised during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps</span> Military unit

The 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was an armoured regiment of the British Army. Originally raised during World War II as a battalion of the East Lancashire Regiment it was later transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps. It fought in the campaign in North-West Europe, from June 1944 to May 1945.

The 33rd Army Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army raised during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">148th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps</span> Military unit

The 148th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II. It fought in the invasion of Normandy in 1944.

The Leeds Rifles was a unit of the 19th century Volunteer Force of the British Army that went on to serve under several different guises in the World Wars of the 20th century. In World War I both battalions served as infantry on the Western Front and was later were converted into an anti-aircraft and tank unit, fighting in North Africa, Italy and Burma during World War II.

The 107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (King's Own) (107 RAC) was a tank regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The regiment served with distinction in North-west Europe from July 1944 to May 1945.

The 151st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps that was raised during the Second World War.

The 153rd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was an armoured regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, part of the British Army, and was raised during the Second World War. The regiment saw brief but intense action in the invasion of Normandy before being broken up to provide replacements to other units.

Brigadier Philip Ernest Bowden-Smith CBE, was a cavalry officer and later armoured commander of the British Army who served in the First World War and the Second World War. Described as 'one of the finest horsemen of his generation' he also represented Great Britain at the 1924 Olympic Games.

109th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (The Lancashire Fusiliers) (109 RAC) was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II.

The 143rd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was a short-lived armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II.

The 110th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Border Regiment) (110 RAC) was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps raised during the Second World War.

The 111th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Manchester Regiment) (111 RAC) was an armoured regiment of the British Army, raised by the Royal Armoured Corps during the Second World War.

The 142nd (Suffolk) Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps that was raised in World War II and saw active service. The regiment served in the final stages of the North African Campaign at Tunisia and later served during the Italian Campaign from 1943 until early 1945 when it was disbanded.

The 93rd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment was an air defence unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II. Elements of the regiment landed with special equipment on D-Day, and served in the Normandy campaign. The regiment went on to defend Belgian cities against V-1 flying bombs and participated in the assault crossing of the Rhine.

References

External sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.