The "original" 9th RTR was formed in December 1916 as the 9th Battalion, Heavy Branch Machine Gun Corps and was designated I Battalion. The unit served at the Battle of Cambrai where, along with III Corps of the Third British Army, achieved complete surprise and pushed the German forces out of the town.
Through the remainder of the War, the 9th were used to great effect, using the tactics they had learnt at Cambrai. The Battalion were awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palmes as a regimental decoration, an honour that is shared with only three other units in the British Army, all of which are infantry.
The 9th were also awarded the honour of wearing the badge of General Bourgon's French 3rd Division. A replica of the badge was worn on the sleeve of everyone serving in the 9th Battalion, and later by everyone in the 9th RTR. The 9th took their unofficial motto from this badge: "Qui s'y frotte, s'y brule" which translates as "Touch me, and you burn".
Although the exact details are not known, the 9th was disbanded after the war ended.
The road to the 9th's reformation started in May 1940 when the majority of the 3rd Battalion RTR was destroyed near Calais, with only eight men returning to Britain. A number of the reinforcements intended for the 3rd Battalion RTR were hived off to become "a detachment of the 3rd Battalion", a Home Details Unit. Soon after this, in November 1940, the 9th Battalion RTR was created.
Service during World War 2
Despite forming in November 1940, it was not until mid-1941, when the regiment was based in Otley, that the 9th received the tanks it was to use in its role as a Heavy Tank Unit. The 9th RTR was one of the first units to be equipped with the Churchill. These vehicles were almost identical to those used by the Calgary Regiment of the Canadian Army at Dieppe in 1942.
Between 1941 and 1944, the regiment moved around the country, from Otley, to Eastbourne, South Lancing, Charing, and eventually Aldershot. Along with this, the regiment's tanks and their crews often moved around the country to various gunnery ranges, such as at Bovington Camp in Dorset and Castlemartin in Wales.
The 9th finally went into action shortly after D Day, (weather conditions had not permitted them to land on the planned date). Some of the regiment was able to get on shore on 19 June, but a large part was held up for another two days.
After Epsom, the 9th was part of Operation Jupiter, the attack on Hill 112. The Hill was defended by elements of Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502, which led to heavy losses for the regiment, although eventually the Hill was retaken from the German Forces.
The next major engagement for the 9th was the Falaise pocket. The regiment supported the 1st Canadian Army for the first part of the battle. However, it was soon returned to British command for the push east across the north of France, to take bridges across a number of rivers in the area.
Following the rapid push east, the 9th RTR took part in the capture of Le Havre as part of Operation Astonia. In a combined assault of land, naval and air forces, the port city of Le Havre was taken in three days, despite being considered "one of the strongest fortresses of the Atlantic Wall". Unlike previous operations, the regiment took very light casualties. The end of Operation Astonia led to a fortnight's rest for the regiment, after they had been fighting for around 100 days.
After its rest period, 9th RTR moved into the Netherlands and took part in enlarging the Nijmegen Salient in support of the 51st (Highland) and 49th (West Riding) Divisions. Later on in the Dutch campaign, the 9th participated in Operations Rebound and Thruster, which led to the capture of Roosendaal and aided the clearing of the banks of the River Scheldt.
Between late December 1944 and the end of January 1945, 9th RTR aided in victory in the Ardennes, acting as a defensive force near Liege, under the command of the First US Army.
Churchill tanks of 9 RTR during the advance towards Goch, Germany, 19 February 1945
After the Ardennes, the 9th was attached to the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division for the battle in the Reichswald, during early to mid-February 1945. Following this, the 9th, in support of the 52nd Lowland Division, pushed further into Germany.
Between March and April, the 9th had an extended period of refitting and maintenance, repairing or replacing tanks that had travelled thousands of miles and participated in countless engagements, anticipating the final push across the Rhine. The assault never truly came, the final tasks for the 9th was to clear and secure a small area of Germany.
Organisation
The main fighting element of the 9th RTR was split into the Regimental Headquarters consisting of six tanks and three squadrons, further split into Squadron HQs, which was made up of four tanks each, and five troops each with three tanks. In total, the 9th had 63 tanks, served by over 300 crew.
Alongside the fighting elements was the recce troop, equipped with Jeeps and Daimler Dingo Scout Cars, and the Supply Section, which was in charge of providing the regiment with equipment, food and spare parts for the regiment's tanks.
The structure of the Fighting Element of the regiment is shown below:
The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps, it is part of the Royal Armoured Corps.
The Royal Wessex Yeomanry is a reserve armoured regiment of the British Army Reserve consisting of five squadrons. Formerly part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade, the regiment joined 3rd Division in July 2014, to provide armoured resilience to the three armoured regiments within the Reaction Force. In 2015 the regiment was moved from the operational command of 3rd Division to 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade, and later to 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, but members of the regiment still wear the 3rd Division formation badge to reflect their role in supporting the three armoured regiments in the division.
The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish) (QRH) is a British armoured regiment. It was formed on 1 September 1993 from the amalgamation of the Queen's Own Hussars and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars. The regiment and its antecedents have been awarded 172 Battle Honours and eight Victoria Crosses. The regiment was based in Sennelager, Germany, until 2019 when it was relocated to Tidworth Camp, England. It is the armoured regiment for 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team.
The Royal Dragoon Guards (RDG) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was formed in 1992 by the amalgamation of two other regiments: The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards. Based in Battlesbury Barracks, Wiltshire, the regiment currently serves as the armoured cavalry reconnaissance unit of 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team. Previously equipped with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, it started converting to the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in 2022.
The Royal Canadian Dragoons (RCD) is the senior armoured regiment of the Canadian Army by precedence. It is one of three armoured regiments in the Regular Force and forms part of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
Queen Alexandra's Mounted Rifles (QAMR) is an armoured regiment of the New Zealand Army and forms part of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps. The regiment was formed in 1864 and is currently an armoured cavalry unit equipped with NZLAV.
The Ontario Regiment (RCAC) is a Primary Reserve armoured reconnaissance regiment of the Canadian Army. The unit is based in downtown Oshawa, Ontario, and is named after Ontario County (1852–1973). Formed in 1866, and more commonly known as the 'Ontarios', 'black cats' or 'ONT R' (pronounced "ON-tar"), the regiment ranks among the oldest continuously serving Reserve (Militia) regiments in Canada and is one of the senior armoured regiments in the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.
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.
The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps and the 1st Mechanized Brigade.
5th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army in existence for 52 years, from 1917 until 1969. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as E Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.
The 51st Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Territorial Army that fought in the Tunisian and Italian campaigns during World War II and continued to serve during the 1950s.
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 23rd Armoured Brigade, originally formed as the 23rd Army Tank Brigade, was an armoured brigade of the British Army that saw service during the Second World War. The brigade was a 2nd Line Territorial Army (TA) formation. It was reorganised and renamed the 23rd Armoured Brigade, when it was assigned to the 8th Armoured Division, although it never operated under command of the division.
The Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (RWY) was a Yeomanry regiment of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom established in 1794. It was disbanded as an independent Territorial Army unit in 1967, a time when the strength of the Territorial Army was greatly reduced. The regiment lives on in B Squadron of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.
The Northumberland Hussars was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, transferred to the Royal Artillery for the duration of the Second World War. It was disbanded as an independent Territorial Army unit in 1967, a time when the strength of the Territorial Army was greatly reduced. The regiment's name lives on in the title of the command and support squadron of the Queen's Own Yeomanry (QOY), a Formation Reconnaissance Regiment based in Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Lothians and Border Horse was a Yeomanry regiment, part of the British Territorial Army. It was ranked 36th in the Yeomanry order of precedence and was based in the Scottish Lowland area, recruiting in the Lothians – East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire), and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire) – and along the border with England, particularly Berwickshire. It amalgamated with the Lanarkshire Yeomanry and the Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry to form the Queen's Own Lowland Yeomanry in 1956.
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 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 the First World War, both battalions served as infantry on the Western Front. They were later converted into an anti-aircraft and tank units, and fought in North Africa, Italy, and Burma during the Second World War.
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 34th Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army that fought in the Second World War. It was formed in 1941 as the 34th Army Tank Brigade and renamed as the 34th Tank Brigade in February 1945, becoming part of the 79th Armoured Division. It was equipped with Churchill tanks and provided close support for assaults by the infantry. During the fighting in North-west Europe from July 1944 to May 1945 the brigade served with the First Canadian Army and the British Second Army. The brigade was disbanded in early 1946.
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.
United Kingdom 
British Army 
