The 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1992. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as C Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.
In 1939 it was retitled from "3rd Royal Tank Corps". In 1940, it was preparing to go to France as part of 1st Armoured Division when it was diverted at short notice to Calais. It fought during the four-day Siege of Calais. All its tanks were lost, and many personnel killed or taken prisoner, but some escaped to Dunkirk or were evacuated from Calais before the port fell.
The unit was subsequently rebuilt in the UK as part of 3rd Armoured Brigade, its original parent formation. Shipped to the Middle East, it was part of the British 1st Armoured Brigade when it was sent to defend Greece to try to stem the German invasion in 1941.
In 1942, it briefly amalgamated with the 5th Royal Tank Regiment, as the 3rd/5th Royal Tank Regiment, returning to its previous title a month later. It formed part of 8th Armoured Brigade, fighting at El Alamein, and in Tunisia. It later joined 29th Armoured Brigade and fought in Normandy, Holland and Germany as part of 11th Armoured Division.
During the Battle of Bulge, it was sent to form part of the defensive line on the Meuse river. Its tanks met the vanguard of the German push to the river before the panzers were turned back.
In 1959, it amalgamated with the 6th Royal Tank Regiment without change of title. In the summer of 1989 the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment was deployed to Northern Ireland in an infantry role. The first Armoured Regiment to do so for many years
In 1992, it amalgamated with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment.
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—John Crowe Ransom (1888–1974)
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