At the moment,I am reading Lord Carver's "Britain 's Army in the twentieth Century ". On P 153 -164 he is dealing with the mechanisation of the British Army before WW II .Probably due to English not beying my native language,I don't get it :what's the difference between the Royal Armoured Corps and the Royal Tank Regiment? The RAC having the light tanks and the RTR the medium and heavy ones (if there were any ) ? Could someone explain in simply terms ? Thank you .
These links may shed some light on it for you Royal Armoured Corps - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Royal Tank Regiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The RTR is a Regiment in itself, having it's own cap badge & traditions. In WW2 some Infantry Regiments were converted to armour & so came under the RAC. Understanding the British Army isn't easy. I'm sure we have another thread on here where Tom C an RAC Veteran expalined it better.
LJ May add my own experience ? I started life in an Ack Ack regiment of the Royal Artillery When the regiment was disbanded I was posted to a Royal Armoured Corps Training Depot When I finished my training I was posted to the 4th Queen's Own Hussars which was a cavalry regiment within the Royal Armoured Corps As has already been suggested, Wikipedia explains it all. Cheers Ron
The RTR is a Regiment in itself, having it's own cap badge & traditions. In WW2 some Infantry Regiments were converted to armour & so came under the RAC. Understanding the British Army isn't easy. . Owen, You can certainly say that again . Regards Tom
But was the existence of 2 tankforces before WW 2 not a wastage of means ? Why not one ? And during the war ,let say:the 7th armoured division:was it composed by RTR or by units of the RAC ? Or was there no difference between the RAC and the RTR,only an other appellation ?
LJ May add my own experience ? I started life in an Ack Ack regiment of the Royal Artillery When the regiment was disbanded I was posted to a Royal Armoured Corps Training Depot When I finished my training I was posted to the 4th Queen's Own Hussars which was a cavalry regiment within the Royal Armoured Corps As has already been suggested, Wikipedia explains it all. Cheers Ron Ron ,thank you for your information .Can I say the following? the RAC consisted of the (ex) cavalry regiments,which keeped their name ,but had became armoured units and the RTRegiments were ...new units ?And the RTRegiments were created before (or after ?) the cavalry regiments loosed their horses and became motorised or armoured ? Or am I wrong ? Cheers
But was the existence of 2 tankforces before WW 2 not a wastage of means ? Why not one ? And during the war ,let say:the 7th armoured division:was it composed by RTR or by units of the RAC ? Or was there no difference between the RAC and the RTR,only an other appellation ? There weren't two tank force before WW2. After WW1 there were cavalry regiments (22 of them after 1922) and The Royal Tank Corps. Naturally cavalry regiments had hoses while RTC had tanks. During 1930's Army started with mechanization of cavalry regiment and they were equipped with motorized vehicles, armoured cars and later with light tanks. So in 1939 it was finally decided to create a new corps which will include both cavalry regiments (all of them except The Life Guards, The Royal Horse Guards, 1st Royal Dragoons and The Royal Scots Greys but they will also later became part of RAC) and The Royal Tank Corps (which was renamed The Royal Tank Regiment). And this new corps was named the Royal Armoured Corps. So all armoured units of 7th Armoured Division were part of RAC. RTR was just one of corps regiments with many "battalions".
