page_title: 49th Royal Tank Regiment
section_title: Origin and training
hierarchical_section_title: 49th Royal Tank Regiment / Origin and training
caption_attribution_description: English: IWM caption&#160;: A Matilda tank of the 49th Royal Tank Regiment advances through a smoke screen during an exercise near Dover, UK.
context_page_description: 49th Royal Tank Regiment, later 49th Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment and 49th Armoured Carrier Regiment, was a regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II that operated specialised armoured fighting vehicles in North West Europe.
context_section_description: As part of the rearmament of the British Army before World War II, the 6th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, a Territorial Army infantry battalion, was converted to the armoured role on 1 November 1938, under the designation 43rd (6th City) Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, Royal Tank Regiment, or '43 RTR' for short. During 1939, it formed 49 RTR as a duplicate regiment. The regiments shared St George's Drill Hall in Newcastle upon Tyne as their depot. While 43 RTR used the conventional 'A', 'B' and 'C' squadron designations, 49 RTR adopted 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' for its squadrons. Both regiments were part of 25th Army Tank Brigade.
  In August 1939, 49 RTR had still not received any tanks, so it mobilised as an infantry unit, and spent the Phoney War on guard duty in North East England. In April 1940, it finally received a few old tanks for instruction (one Vickers Medium per squadron, and one Matilda for the regimental headquarters) plus some old cars. In May, the regiment moved to Catterick Camp to begin armoured training.
  At the end of May 1940, with the British Expeditionary Force being evacuated from Dunkirk and the imminent threat of German invasion of England, 25th Army Tank Brigade was redesignated 2nd Motor Machine Gun Brigade and its regiments reorganised accordingly. Each MMG squadron consisted of three troops, each with six Austin Utility ('Tilly') two-seat cars, two carrying Vickers medium machine guns, two Bren light machine guns and two Boys anti-tank rifles. In July 1940, volunteers from the units of 25th Army Tank Brigade formed No 5 Troop of No. 5 Commando at Bridlington.
  In August, 49 RTR and the rest of the brigade moved to Northumberland to guard the coastline with machine gun posts along the cliffs and sand dunes. In November 1940, the brigade moved to the Dukeries area of Nottinghamshire for armoured training; 49 RTR was posted to Rufford Abbey but soon afterwards left the brigade and joined 1st Army Tank Brigade at East Grinstead in Sussex.
  Now 49 RTR returned its 'Tillies' to store and began intensive infantry tank training on the South Downs with new Matilda II tanks. It finally adopted the usual 'A', 'B' and 'C' designations for its squadrons. Later in 1941, the regiment came once more under 25th Army Tank Brigade, which had reconverted from the motor machine gun role and moved to the South Coast.
caption: Matilda tank of 49 RTR advances through a smoke screen during an exercise near Dover, UK, 23 October 1941
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