View source for 4th Royal Tank Regiment

{{Short description|Armoured regiment of the British Army}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=4th Royal Tank Regiment
|image=ROYAL TANK REGIMENT.png
|caption=Cap badge of the Royal Tank Regiment
|dates=28 July 1917- 1993
|country={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|allegiance=
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|type=[[Armoured warfare|Armoured]]
|role=
|size=[[Battalion]]
|command_structure=[[Royal Armoured Corps]] <br> [[Royal Tank Regiment]]
|current_commander=
|garrison=[[Tidworth Camp|Tidworth]]
|ceremonial_chief=[[Elizabeth II|HM The Queen]]
|ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel-in-Chief
|colonel_of_the_regiment=Lt-General Andrew Peter Ridgway, CB, CBE
|colonel_of_the_regiment_label=Colonel-Commandant
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=''Fear Naught''
|colors=
|identification_symbol_2=Hunting Rose (pipes and drums) <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20041019213321/http://www.regiments.org/tradition/tartans/rose.htm Military Tartans: Rose]</ref>
|identification_symbol_2_label=Tartan
|identification_symbol=
|identification_symbol_label=Tactical Recognition Flash
|march=Quick: ''My Boy Willie'' <br>Slow: ''The Royal Tank Regiment Slow March''
|mascot=
|battles=
|notable_commanders=[[Hugh Elles]]
|anniversaries=[[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Cambrai]], 20 November
|decorations=
|battle_honours=see [[Royal Tank Regiment#Battle honours|Battle Honours]]
}}
The '''4th Royal Tank Regiment''' ('''4 RTR''') was an [[Armoured regiment (United Kingdom)|armoured regiment]] of the [[British Army]] from its creation in 1917, during [[World War I]], until 1993. It was part of the [[Royal Tank Regiment]], itself part of the [[Royal Armoured Corps]].

==History==
[[File:IWM-F-2141-Matilda.jpg|thumb|left|{{center|[[Matilda I (tank)|Matilda I tank]] in France, January 1940}}]]
The regiment originally saw action as '''D Battalion, Tank Corps''' in 1917. In 1940, it was briefly amalgamated with the [[7th Royal Tank Regiment]], as the '''4th/7th Royal Tank Regiment''', returning to its previous title four months later.<ref name=regiments>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-cav/rtr4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519075828/http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-cav/rtr4.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 May 2006 |title=4th Royal Tank Regiment|publisher=Regiments.org|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref><ref name=baf>{{cite web|url=http://www.britisharmedforces.org/i_regiments/roytank_index.htm |title=Royal Tank Regiment|publisher=British Armed Forces|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>

4 RTR was captured at [[Tobruk]] on 21 June 1942. On 1 March 1945, [[144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps]] was re-designated 4th Royal Tank Regiment to replace the original.<ref name=regiments/><ref name=baf/> The newly retitled regiment equipped with Buffalo [[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVT]]s took part in [[Operation Plunder]], ferrying troops of 51st Highland Division across the Rhine on the night of 23/24 March 1945. The Commanding Officer (Lt-Col [[Alan Jolly]]) carried the same standard that was originally carried across by 17th Armoured Car Battalion of the Royal Tank Corps in the [[World War I|First World War]]. Once again the RTR was first across the Rhine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.4and7royaltankregiment.com/1943-1947.html|title= The History of the 4th and 7th Royal Tank Regiment|access-date=4 March 2018}}</ref>

In 1948 it assisted in the ending of the British Mandate over Palestine.<ref name=regiments/> In 1959, it was again amalgamated with 7th Royal Tank Regiment, this time without a change of title, and in 1993 due to [[Options for Change]], amalgamated with the [[1st Royal Tank Regiment]].<ref name=regiments/>

==Commanding officers==
{{Incomplete list|date=February 2021}}
The Commanding Officers have been:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/REGIMENTAL%20COs.pdf|title=Regiments and Commanding Officers, 1960 - Colin Mackie|page=32|accessdate=4 February 2021}}</ref>
*1941: Lt.-Col. W.C.L. O’Carroll
*1960–1962: Lt.-Col. Thomas S. Craig
*1962–1964: Lt.-Col. H. Brian C. Watkins
*1964–1967: Lt.-Col. John A. Cowgill
*1967–1969: Lt.-Col. Roger B.C. Plowden
*1969–1971: Lt.-Col. Martin H. Sinnatt
*1971–1973: Lt.-Col. [[Laurence New|Laurence A.W. New]]
*1973–1976: Lt.-Col. David Sands
*1976–1978: Lt.-Col. Nicholas H. Cocking
*1978–1981: Lt.-Col. Michael J. Rose
*1981–1983: Lt.-Col. Philip J. Sanders
*1983–1985: Lt.-Col. Hedley D.C. Duncan
*1985–1988: Lt.-Col. W. Douglas Cantley
*1988–1990: Lt.-Col. Charles J. McBean
*1990–1993: Lt.-Col. Martin N.E. Speller

==Awards==
*[[Philip John Gardner]] – [[Victoria Cross]] Tobruk 1941

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Tobruk in the Second World War}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-cav/rtr4.htm|title=4th Royal Tank Regiment|work=Regiments.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011104431/http://www.regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-cav/rtr4.htm|archive-date=11 October 2007}}
* [http://www.4and7royaltankregiment.com/ The History of the 4th and 7th Royal Tank Regiment. revised 2011]
* [http://www.4rtr.co.uk/ The website of 4th RTR on the internet]
* [http://www.4rtr.com/ The History of the 4th and 7th Royal Tank Regiment]
* [http://www.merseysidertr.com/ Merseyside RTR ](Brian Gills website)
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{RAC armoured regiments of the Second World War}}

[[Category:Royal Tank Regiment]]
[[Category:Regiments of the British Army in World War II|Royal Tank Regiment 004]]