The Royal Tank Regiment A Pictorial History 1916-1987

Free Download George Forty - The Royal Tank Regiment: A Pictorial History 1916-1987
Spellmount | 1989 | ISBN: 0946771146 | English | 269 pages | PDF | 102.66 MB
Tanks were first used in small numbers on the SOMME in 1916. However, it was not until the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 that they showed their true potential. Since those early clays the tank greatly improved its firepower, protection and mobility, to become the main arm of decision in the land battle during World War II. It is still `Queen of the Battlefield', taking its undisputed place at the head of the all arms team. Nowhere are tanks more expertly handled than in the British Army, by the men of 'the Royal Tank Regiment, whose forebears fought and died manning the very first tanks. In this evocative book, crammed with photographs, many from private collections, George Forty, the present Director and Curator of the world famous Tank Museum at Bovington Camp, `home of the tanks', charts the progress of the Royal Tank Regiment's first seventy years of history, from 1916 to 1986. covering two World Wars and the two turbulent periods of peace which followed them, the author uses his usual highly successful mix of photographs and `I was there' stories, to tell the Regiment's history in peace and war. An RTR soldier himself for thirty-two years, George Forty has commanded tanks and armoured cars all over the world - in Western Europe, Korea, Aden, the Persian Gulf and Borneo, so he is well fitted to tell their triumphal story. From mud, through blood, to the green fields beyond is the unofficial motto of the RTR, who still proudly wear the colours of brown, red and green, which were first seen on Gen. Sir Hugh Elleses battle flag, when he led the Tank Corps into action at the Battle of Cambrai.