To ease things up, wouldn’t it be a good idea to make this campaign not about a Royal Tank Regiment, but about the Royal Armoured Corps? That will save a lot of questions, as (I presume) all British Tanks were part of them? Of course that still will leave out all foreign/common wealth units (Canadian/South African/ANZAC/Dutch/Poles/etc.) I guess?
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I think if you do that - though I have no skin in the game - you might as well just call it “British Armour”. At least by focussing on a particular component of the Royal Armoured Corps it’s narrowed down a little bit, with all the concomitant research required re unit insignia, vehicle markings, uniform variations etc.
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I agree. I think keeping it to RTR is the way to go. Its a much narrower slice of the RAC and as you say, research will be nicer delving into individual RTR Regiments/WW2 Battalions etc.
Erwin makes a good point about the Commonwealth/foreign side of the assistance garnered with armoured units. That in itself cries out to be a Group build on its own -
something along the lines of ;
Foreign/Commonwealth Armoured units in WW2 (Canadian/South African/ANZAC/Dutch/Poles/etc.) (NO UK or US Regiments)
Getting back to the campaign here, I was contemplating doing a RTR BATUS Cr1 which i have some decent images of, including at least 1 VRN so I could do a specific vehicle 
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Of course it is only a suggestion. I do have a Churchill Mk. VII, but am not sure if it was used by the RTR units…
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This may help (or confuse) a little bit with formation signs.
And as an example the Order of Battle for 11th Armoured Division 1944.
You’ll see 3RTR there in 29th Armoured Brigade, at the time equipped with Sherman’s. 11th Armoured later re-equipped with the Comet after the Battle of the Bulge for their race across Germany.
Small fact they were already in training on the Comet when the Bulge was launched by the Germans. They had to rush back and reclaim their beaten, worn out Sherman’s so as to counter the Germans. Some of the Sherman’s were already being stripped for useable spares.
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@Johnnych01 Thank you for your explanation. In the modern army, are there armor battalions that are not part of the Royal Tank Regiment?
@SableLiger The crossed Lewis(?) guns are nice. I can work those in behind a Mark I tank.
@BootsDMS Wow. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thorough explanation. That was very helpful.
I have some knowledge of American Army organization so almost everything you wrote makes sense. A few terms change but the general organizational structure is the same.
However, I still do not understand the essence of what the Royal Tank Regiment is!
- Many regiments belong to the Royal Tank Regiment.
- During World War II, they are scattered about, organic to various larger formations.
- Each regiment is self contained.
If I have that right, is “Royal Tank Regiment” just a term with no physical existence?
…
Last night, I found a number of pictures of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment and 5th Royal Tank Regiment M3 Grants in 1942. Some are diesel tanks like the Tamiya Grant.
Last night, I also went looking through the stockpile, finding a Mark IV Female and a Ferret. Another option is to purchase something.
Also, I have an old book called British Tank Markings and Names. I have not looked at it in years. Perhaps now is a good time to correct that.
Would a Royal Tank Regiment regiment use a howitzer armed Cromwell? Is that even possible?
Edit: Just found this on a Tank Markings website:
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Armoured units are designated as Regiments now.
Regular Army
Royal Armoured Corps has the following units. With various fighting vehicles depending if they are Heavy Armour -Cr2 or Armoured Recce with Ajax, and light Recce with Jackal, Coyote, and Warrior etc.
The Household Cavalry Regt
The Queens Dragoon Guards
Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
Royal Dragoon Guards
Queens Royal Hussars
The Royal Lancers
Kings Royal Hussars
The Light Dragoons
Royal Tank Regiment
Reserve Armoured Units
Royal Yeomanry
Royal Wessex Yeomanry
Queens Own Yeomanry
Scottich and North Irish Yeomanry
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Briefly.
The Royal Tank Regiment is an Armoured Regiment equipped with Cr2 in its primary role. It has one Sqn equipped with Fuchs.
At the moment, there is only 1 Royal Tank Regt. During WW2 as we have seen, there were many, and when I joined up, there 4 - See post a few above.
Yes, during WW2, the different RTR regiments/Battalions were in various larger formations.
Yes, each Regt/Bn is self contained, but will be dependant and under a larger formation for all resupply needs etc, be it a Brigade, Div or Corps.
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So, is all this complication a deliberate strategy to make the enemy so confused they give up in frustration and go home?
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If we stick with the original plan I am in and will try my best to get it done.
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I think the initial confusion as to what the RTR actually are is now resolved and our friends across the pond now have a better grasp of it and what it means as a Regt and it remains just an RTR Armoured Veh build.
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There were indeed several regiments (units) of the Royal Tank Regiment; these were identified by number eg 1 RTR, 2 RTR and so on. They are all units of the Royal Armoured Corps, alongside their brethren in the various Cavalry and Yeomanry regiments.
“Scattered about” reflects that they were assigned to whatever theatre of war required their participation. This was at the direction of the War Office and the Chief of the Imperial General Staff as the war was duly prosecuted. They would be part of whatever formation (Brigade, Division, Corps) as directed.
Each regiment is a self-contained fighting unit as previously described. As are Infantry battalions, Artillery regiments, Engineer regiments etc.
“Royal Tank Regiment” is certainly not a term with no physical existence; as above, there were around a dozen regiments from the RTR, numbered and structured as previously described with (in 1944) Sherman or Churchill tanks (the organisation of the latter varied in detail).
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Yes; those units within 7th Armoured Division - which was the only formation equipped fully with Cromwells, would have had the 95mm-equipped versions within their Squadron and Regimental HQs.
The units were 1st Royal Tank Regiment and 5th Royal Tank Regiment respectively.
'Hope this all helps Doug!
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Churchill Tanks were used by the following RTR units within 31st Army Tank Brigade:
7 RTR
9 RTR
One would have to assume that somewhere along the line the Mk VII was issued.
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@Johnnych01 Thank you for the your continued efforts to explain how the Royal Tank Regiment works. Please pardon my inability to grasp the subject. I understand the concept of a regiment (/battalion) as exemplified by, say, the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment. I still do not understand what “Royal Tank Regiment” means and that is okay. A fair number of models have a 3rd/5th/etc. Royal Tank Regiment decal option so I can purchase one of those.
@BootsDMS Thank you for continuing to answer my questions. I am not grasping the concept of “ROyal Tank Regiment” but have found a number of models with qualifying decal options so I can stick to those.
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When they were first formed as a unit in 39, it is just the Official name they were granted by the then King. It’s as easy as that, just a name. Same way the Household Cavalry are called that or the Irish Guards are called that … 
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Right Doug,
Consider the British Parachute Regiment; formed in 1940 at the behest of the Prime Minister, alarmed and inspired by the success of the German paras.
Still around today and consists of 3 battalions – listed and known as:
1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment
2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment
3rd battalion The Parachute Regiment
It was the same for the Royal Tank Regiment back in the day:
1st Battalion The Royal Tank Regiment
2nd Battalion the Royal Tank Regiment
and so on and so forth. Each one structured as previously described and consisting of around 600 soldiers and nearly 60 tanks (WW2 that is)
Somewhere along the (historical) line, the term battalion changed to “Regiment” – probably to tie-in with the Cavalry regiments. So you technically end up with the tautological titles of:
Ist Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment
2nd Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment
and so on. Abbreviated – which obviously makes sense, to 1 RTR or say, 1st RTR.
Historically, back in 1917 (I think) the Tank Corps was formed – ie hived off from the Heavy Machine Gun Corps – which is where Tanks had been incorporated previously. For the remainder of the First World War there were around 20-odd battalions. Post war – as always – things were trimmed down a bit and we had 4 Tank Battalions – so-called as they were equipped with said armoured vehicle – the “Tank”. During the 20s and 30s, armoured vehicle development continued, and organisations and structures experimented with (as per other nations). The British Cavalry regiments – often reluctant to change from animals to machines – were also re-equipped with tanks. In 1939, the War Office decided to form the Royal Armoured Corps (that is an administrative grouping, not to be confused with a Corps as a tactical formation) consisting of, spoiler alert – the clue’s in the name – armoured units – both Cavalry and RTR alike. Later, during the war, this would expand to the Yeomanry and converted Infantry battalions.
That’s about as easy as I can make it I’m afraid!
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Okay, just for the sake of making this campaign as easy to follow; I want to keep the subject to all the tanks used by the Royal Tank Regiment from WW1 to the present era, regardless of unit formations.
That way we don’t have to twist ourselves into pretzels trying to figure out what tank to build.
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Well, just in time for the campaign perhaps, this offering from Gecko:
used by the RTR in France 1940.
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@Damraska There was not “a” Royal Tank Regiment, but multiple regiments! If you think like that, it might be easier to get your head around the idea?
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