Hi all, First post here and one of many i hope , starting the long journey of tracing my Grandads steps through the war, he was a tank driver with 3rd RTR from the start till the end, i have a pandora's box of photos, newspaper clippings and stuff he collected on his travels so you may see me here a lot lol I found this site this morning and cant stay off it! lol First off can someone shed some light on the Patches attached please? they were with his medals,cap badge and 3rd patches Thanks Keith
Well, the fox was the emblem of 8th Armoured Brigade. 3RTR was part of 8th Armoured Brigade for some of its time in the desert. Usually the fox is red on a yellow background. P.S. just wanted to say welcome! I've read a few books involving 3RTR. Robert Crisp's Brazen Chariots is actually probably one of the first books I read about WW2. Cyril Joly's Take These Men is very good too (though it renames everyone).
8th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia Order of Battle, October 1942 3rd Royal Tank Regiment Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) 1st Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery 97th (Kent Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 3rd Royal Tank Regiment - Wikipedia Before we go too deep - do you have his service records - if not they are the best place to start and are only available from APC (MOD) in Glasgow, the link for the forms is - Request records of deceased service personnel TD The 8TH ARMOURED BRIGADE
Thanks Chris, I have seen the red fox on yellow a few times but not the gold on black, cant find the other anywhere yet
Awaiting delivery of service records as we speak lol I know by his own records the countries he served in and it would appear he was at the pointy end the whole way in every country lol
Crock Welcome to the Forum. My dad was also a tank Driver with 3RTR from about August 1944 to the end. He was transferred to 3RTR from 24th Lancers when the latter were disbanded due to high losses etc. What was your grandads name? Any idea which Squadron?....etc etc Would be great if you could share photos at some stage. Before that I suggest you trawl the Forum for stuff about 3RTR; there's quite a lot to read!
Hi SDP, His name was Harry House, ill certainly be posting pics and stuff as times go on, i have been trawling the forums already and its been very informative.. if not a little time consuming! lol haven't got done half the stuff i was suppose to today! Cant seem to nail down his squadron yet.. waiting on his records for all the finer details
Dennis Pannell. Initially 3 Troop C Squadron and then moved, after his Sherman was KOd in late August 1944, to 1 Troop A Squadron. Incidentally, I'm not sure whether the Service Records will show your grandads Squadron: I've never got around to getting dad's Records (early days as I've only been researching bits and pieces for about 20years!).
lol i started around a month ago to help my grandaughter with a school project, got totally sucked in!
quick question.. the fox head patch is the 8th Armored.. of which 3RTR were part of for a while... 3RTR were part of many brigades / division over the years, did they not wear their patches as well? why only the 8th?
Regiments were moved around between Brigades and Divisions as and when required. I don't know much (relatively) about 3RTR before February 1944 but, at that time, they swapped places with 24th Lancers i.e. 24L moved to 8AB (replacing 3RTR) and 3RTR moved to 29AB (replacing 24L). 29AB was part of 11th Armoured Division and with which they stayed until the War ended. 20years research. All about priorities. That time includes running the 24th Lancers Old Comrades Association, or what's now left of it, since about 1998 and various other topics. Never really researched my late Dad.....but about to start.......sometime?
Patches and badges were normally changed as and when required. Most were handed in but some were kept as 'souvenirs'. I have my dad's 11AD patches but have no idea whether he 'collected' them from the time 24L were in 11AD or when 3RTR were in 11AD. One of life's little mysteries which, alas, can not now be solved.....but at least I've got them!
Crock It could be interesting to share any names and locations mentioned on the photos and any other documents: that could well help in identifying his Squadron etc
British ARMY Drivers 5 Point Star Badges Drivers Skills Sewn on Patch 5-Pointed Star On Circle (Tank Driver/Mechanic) White/Black On TD
Makes sense they would have handed patches in.. didnt think of that lol... and yes a few would have been smuggled for souvenirs
Hi, The gold on black fox badge is the formation sign of the 10th Armoured Division. It looks like 3 RTR were in this division in 1942. Regards Danny
Crock It might be worth getting a copy of 'From the Desert to the Baltic' by GPB 'Pip' Roberts. He was CO of 3RTR when they were in North Africa (the Desert bit) and became CO of the 11AD (the Baltic bit). There's actually loads of books out there with 3RTR leanings so exercise due caution....!
