Amalgamation of 1st & 2nd Royal Tank Regiment's

Discussion in 'Regiment Histories' started by aghart, Aug 3, 2014.

  1. aghart

    aghart Former Tank Commander Moderator

    On Saturday August 2nd 2014 the 1st & 2nd Royal Tank Regiments amalgamated to form a single Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment. The Parade was held at Bulford, Wiltshire, UK two become 1.jpg piper tank.jpg parade commander.jpg on parade.jpg ajax.jpg

    The Parade started with a replica Mk4 Tank (from the film Warhorse) entering the parade square behind a lone piper. Members of both regiments then marched on, 1 RTR with red scarves and 2 RTR with yellow. The General Officer taking the parade arrived on a WWI Rolls Royce Armoured Car. The 2 regiments then came together on parade giving a mixture of Red and Yellow. The command was given to "remove scarves" (see photo) and at that moment 2 became 1. The regiment then marched past the inspecting officer with standards (regimental colours/flag) at the front to huge applause and cheering. Then 4 Challenger II tanks with flags flying drove past in salute. Following the parade (which began only 2 minutes after the torrential rain had stopped and the sky cleared) there was an open day for soldiers, families and retired soldiers to mix and enjoy the day. I am pictured with two friends stand by a Challenger II tank. I am on the left. A great day with mixed feelings, happiness and sadness at the same time. To put things in perspective? at it's peak (WWII) the RTR was 25 regiment's strong, Following the end of WWII it reduced to 8 then 5, and in 1969 to 4. Following the end of the "cold war" in the 1990's it reduced again to just 2 regiment's and now we have one.

     

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    Last edited: Aug 3, 2014

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