The 5th Royal Tank Regiment (5 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army until 1969. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It originally saw action as E Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917.
In December 1946 the regiment was the first use Centurion tanks in regular service.
In 1960, under the command of Hugo Ironside, it amalgamated with 8th Royal Tank Regiment without change of title. It was disbanded in 1969.
The 5th Royal Tank Regiment Reunion Association holds annual reunions.
In 2007 an image of a 1944 tank commander in the 5th Royal Tank Regiment uniform was used on one of a series of Royal mail stamps featuring British army uniforms.
Famous quotes containing the words royal and/or regiment:
“a highly respectable gondolier,
Who promised the Royal babe to rear
And teach him the trade of a timoneer
With his own beloved brattling.”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
“Simplicity of life, even the barest, is not a misery, but the very foundation of refinement; a sanded floor and whitewashed walls and the green trees, and flowery meads, and living waters outside; or a grimy palace amid the same with a regiment of housemaids always working to smear the dirt together so that it may be unnoticed; which, think you, is the most refined, the most fit for a gentleman of those two dwellings?”
—William Morris (1834–1896)