Hello, I was wondering if anyone knew which if any RA anti tank regiments were in India shortly after WW2. I have seen a couple of photos of Archers from India then (with crews that are British) and I believe one vehicle still exists in poor shape in an open-air museum. If I could learn anything about which units would have received these Archers that would be great. At that time anti-tank duties were still managed by the RA.
By no means an expert, caveat aside. Try this website which has a listing of Anti-Tank Regiments in the Royal Artillery in WW2: British Artillery Regiments It could be a starting point. Another list by number: Royal Artillery in the Second World War 1939-1945 - The Wartime Memories Project -
None of the Indian Divisions in Kempton's Loyalty and Honor series list a British Anti-Tank or LAA/Anti-Tank Regiment under command during the post-war 1945-1948 period.
Yes you are right. There is an Archer at the Cavalry Tank Museum Ahmednagar. See: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mohit_s/albums/72157677252126915/page2 Steve
I have seen this photo labeled as being in India, and the vegetation in the background certainly looks appropriate. I don't know whether what these men are wearing can tell us anything. (Provided for reference only, etc) The slatted plates visible were only issued to vehicles after WW2, so far as I know.
Might the photo be Mid East or Egypt or Libya post war? And they were also used by Egypt and Jordan maybe with British trainers?
I couldn't rule those out, but I think the source of the photos is an album sold by "Through Their Eyes" and is attributed to an RAC mechanic who served in India. THROUGH THEIR EYES - WW2 BRITISH ARMY TANKS R.A.C
Ah yes. That's a great collection of photos and the presence of a Sikh in one of them is a bit of a giveaway. From memory all those vehicles would have been out in India by 1945 or later. I wonder if they were taken at the same place? The ordnance depot was at Kirkee near Poona. Maybe the photos were taken there? Also Ahmednagar was home to many of the British armoured units returned from Burma. Sorry just casting about here Steve
Hi Steve, Please continue to cast about. That's quite an interesting idea and it makes me think - maybe I should ask the owner of the website if he has the name of the photographer. If he did, and folks here could look up his service history (not sure if it would be possible to do that in sufficient detail without being a relative) then it might be possible to deduce where the photos were taken. Chris