The
4th Royal Tank Regiment (
4 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
until 1993. It was part of the
Royal Tank RegimentThe Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...
, itself part of the
Royal Armoured CorpsThe Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
. It originally saw action as
D Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.
In 1940, it briefly amalgamated with the
7th Royal Tank RegimentThe 7th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1959.-History:The 7th Royal Tank Regiment was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps...
, as the
4th/7th Royal Tank Regiment, returning to its previous title four months later.
In 1946, 4 RTR was stationed at Shandur, Suez Canal Zone. It assisted in the ending of the British Mandate over Palestine.
In 1959, it again amalgamated with 7th Royal Tank Regiment, this time without change of title, and in 1993 due to
Options for ChangeOptions for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in 1990, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War....
, amalgamated with
1st Royal Tank RegimentThe 1st Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It was originally formed as 1st Battalion, Royal Tank Corps in 1934....
.
Vehicles of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment carried a distinctive "Chinese" eye on each side and tanks were generally named, with all names beginning with the letter "D". Examples of names include Destroyer, Dakeyne, etc
The 4th Royal Tank Regiment has strong Scottish connections and in the late 1970s, a pipes and drums was formed, wearing the Hunting Rose tartan. The Pipes & Drums were transferred to the 1st Royal Tank Regiment upon amalgamation in 1993. The Regiment lives on, in commemorative form, as D Squadron,
1st Royal Tank RegimentThe 1st Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It was originally formed as 1st Battalion, Royal Tank Corps in 1934....
.
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