The 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army

British Army

The 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 1959.

History

The 7th Royal Tank Regiment was part of the Royal Tank Regiment

Royal Tank Regiment

The 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 Corps

Royal Armoured Corps

The 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...

. The regiment originally saw action as G Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.

In December 1940, as part of the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Western Desert Force

Western Desert Force

The Western Desert Force, during World War II, was a British Commonwealth army formation stationed in Egypt.On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. The unit consisted of the 7th Armoured Division and the Indian 4th Infantry...

 in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, the 7th RTR contained Matilda

Matilda tank

The Infantry Tank Mark II known as the Matilda II was a British infantry tank of the Second World War. It was also identified from its General Staff Specification A12....

 infantry tanks and supported the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Infantry Division. The regiment attacked and destroyed the Italian "Maletti Group

Maletti Group

The Maletti Group was an ad hoc "mechanized" unit formed by the Italian Royal Army in Italian North Africa during the initial stages of the Western Desert Campaign of World War II...

" at the Nibeiwa Camp. The 7th RTR also supported the attack of the 11th Brigade on Italian positions at the Tummar camps. These attacks were accomplished during the opening stages of Operation Compass

Operation Compass

Operation Compass was the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. British and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces in western Egypt and eastern Libya in December 1940 to February 1941. The attack was a complete success...

. The regiment also participated in the successful attacks on Italian-held Bardia

Bardia

Bardia is a geographic region in the Democratic Republic of Nepal.Bardia comprises a portion of the Terai, or lowland hills and valleys of southern Nepal. The Terai is over 1,000 feet in elevation, and extends all along the Indian border...

 during the same campaign.

In mid-1942, the 7th RTR was captured at Tobruk

Tobruk

Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....

 during the Battle of Gazala

Battle of Gazala

The Battle of Gazala was an important battle of the Second World War Western Desert Campaign, fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya from 26 May-21 June 1942...

. Tobruk was surrendered to Italian forces on 21 June 1942.

The regiment was reconstituted in 1943 by re-designating 10th Royal Tank Regiment

10th Royal Tank Regiment

The 10th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army during the Second World War. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps....

.

In 1959, the 7th RTR was amalgamated with 4th Royal Tank Regiment

4th Royal Tank Regiment

The 4th Royal Tank Regiment was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1993. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps...

. The regiment lives on as G Squadron, 1st Royal Tank Regiment

1st Royal Tank Regiment

The 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....

(1RTR).