144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps 144th Regiment RAC ( 144 RAC ) was an armoured regiment of the British Army ' s Royal Armoured Corps during World War II . It fought in the campaign in North - West Europe , 1944 – 45 . Origin and training . The origin of 144th Regiment RAC was a company of men of the East Lancashire Regiment in a Mixed Holding Regiment formed at Huyton , near Liverpool , Lancashire early in World War II . The company formed the nucleus of 50th ( Holding ) Battalion , East Lancashire Regiment , and after the Fall of France a draft of veterans from the British Expeditionary Force was added and the battalion became 8th Bn East Lancashires . 144th Regiment RAC was formed at Rufford Abbey on 22 November 1941 by the conversion of 8th East Lancashires to the armoured role . The commanding officer , Lt - Col S . T . James , remained in command . In common with other infantry battalions transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps , all personnel would have continued to wear their East Lancashire cap badge on the black beret of the RAC . 144th Regiment RAC was assigned to 33rd Tank Brigade for training in the UK , and remained with this brigade for virtually its entire service . The regiment trained in the Infantry Tank ( ' I ' tank ) role on Churchill tank s , and in the winter of 1942 – 43 was mobilised for the Allied invasion of Sicily . But the orders were changed , 144 RAC had to hand its Churchills over to a Canadian regiment , and was re - equipped instead with Sherman tank s . The following autumn it reverted to Churchills , then finally in winter 1943 – 44 it was converted back to Shermans for the Normandy Landings . The training was also broadened and 33rd Tank Brigade was redesignated 33rd Armoured Brigade . The plan was still for it to land in the Infantry tank role , supporting 49th ( West Riding ) Division , but if one of the armoured divisions suffered heavy casualties , 33rd would be ready to switch roles and replace its armoured brigade . It was therefore equipped with a proportion of Sherman Firefly tanks armed with the 17 - pounder , and the tank gunners practised with this weapon at Holkham Field Firing Range . Lieutenant - Colonel A . Jolly , Royal Tank Regiment , ( later General Sir Alan Jolly ) , took command on 10 April 1944 . North - West Europe 1944 – 45 . 144th Regiment RAC began to land in Normandy on 14 June 1944 and went into ' harbour ' near Bayeux . 33rd Armoured Brigade had been delayed in landing , and its absence was sorely felt by the British Second Army during the tough fighting around Villers - Bocage ( 13 – 16 June ) . As an independent brigade under GHQ , 33rd Armoured could be assigned to support any infantry division that required the assistance of tanks , it was usually split up , the regiments forming brigade group s with the infantry , with squadrons assigned to support individual battalions . During June and July 1944 the brigade moved between 49th ( West Riding ) Division , British I Corps and First Canadian Army as required . Operation Pomegranate . Apart from reconnaissance on 8 July , in which the regiment captured some prisoners , 144 RAC ' s first action was during Operation Pomegranate , supporting 59th ( Staffordshire ) Division in an attack on Noyers . This was a deliberate infantry assault preceded by an artillery barrage , with the tanks of 144 RAC in close support , assisted by flail tanks , Churchill AVRE s with petard mortars , and Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tanks , all from 79th Armoured Division , which operated 21st Army Group ' s specialist armour . The advance was badly hampered by minefields ( both Allied and German ) , and 144 RAC had 20 tanks disabled , mostly by ' friendly ' mines . This seriously reduced the force that could be used . The Official History records that ' Noyers was attacked again and again ' for two days , but the garrison drawn from the 277th Division held out , except around the station and Point 126 , which was taken at bayonet point by ' A ' Company , 2 / 6th Bn South Staffordshire Regiment following ' A ' Sqn 144 RAC . In three days ' fighting , 144 RAC lost 13 officers and other ranks killed , 9 missing , and 61 wounded . In addition to the tanks disabled by mines , it had five tanks ' brewed up ' , one written off and 11 damaged or ditched , as well as a scout car and a half - track lost . Lt - Col Jolly wrote a detailed report after the battle to highlight the tactical lessons learned . He commented that 144 RAC ' s earlier ' I ' tank training had proved useful , even though it was now equipped with Shermans . Jolly became regarded as a good tactician , and infantry commanders bowed to his tactical judgement when planning joint operations . After Noyers , the regiment received a much - needed draft of reinforcements from 148 RAC , which was being disbanded . Operation Astonia . From 3 August until 14 September 33rd Armd Bde was attached to 51st ( Highland ) Division . From 16 August 144 RAC regularly worked with 153rd Brigade of 51st Highland . ' On arriving at Brigade Headquarters , Major Secretan found that he was to support the 1st Gordons , the beginning of a long association between B Squadron and that battalion . . . this was really the beginning of our close connection with 153 Infantry Brigade , an association which was to continue for the remainder of the campaign . Each infantry battalion also grew accustomed to being supported by the same squadron and in this way very close ties of confidence and friendship were established between A Squadron and the 5th Black Watch , B squadron and the 1st Gordons , and between C Squadron and the 5 / 7th Gordons . . . In order to make us feel part of the family , the 51st Highland Division asked us to wear the famous HD flash and issued every man in the brigade with one , a gesture which was very much appreciated ' . On 8 September , 144 RAC supported 153 Bde in the assault on the German - held French port of Le Havre ( Operation Astonia ) . This involved clearing minefields and crossing an anti - tank ditch . For this operation 144 RAC had under command the Sherman Crab flail tanks of C Sqn Lothians and Border Horse and tanks to lay scissors bridges . This operation was successful . New role . In January 1945 144 RAC operated with 53rd ( Welsh ) Division in the British counter - attacks against the northern side of the ' Bulge ' developed by the German Ardennes offensive . Then on 18 January , 33rd Armd Bde became part of 79th Armoured Division , and from 30 January 144 RAC re - equipped with Buffalo LVT amphibious vehicles to begin training for the assault crossing of the Rhine . Major Martin Lindsay , second - in - command of 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders , wrote : ' We had a party for Bob Secretan and his officers . It was a sad occasion for they [ 144 RAC ] were giving up their Sherman tanks to be converted into an amphibious regiment . We had had this squadron supporting us on most of our operations since Normandy , and could not have wished for a better . They looked on themselves as being almost Gordon Highlanders ' . ( By contrast , 1st Gordons was supported in its next operation by a troop of Churchill tanks from 107 RAC , whose performance Lindsay described as ' The windiest and wettest imaginable ' ) . New identity . On 1 March 1945 , 144 RAC was redesignated 4th Royal Tank Regiment to replace the original 4 RTR , which had been captured at Tobruk in 1942 . It happened that the band of the East Lancashire Regiment was touring the NW Europe theatre , so they played the regimental march for the final parade of 144 RAC on 28 February , to mark the original link with 8th Bn East Lancs . The first parade of the new regiment the following day was inspected by Sir John Crocker , commander of I Corps and the most senior RTR officer in the theatre . The RTR band played the regimental march , " My Boy Willie " and each man wore a new black beret and RTR badge , specially sent from England by the Director , RAC . They also adopted the blue shoulder flash of 4 RTR . Under its new title the regiment took part in Operation Plunder , ferrying troops of 51st Highland Division across the River Rhine on the night of 23 / 24 March 1945 . On landing , Lt - Col Jolly planted the World War I standard of the original 4th RTR ( D Battalion Tank Corps ) on the far bank . 4 RTR continued postwar as a regular regiment of the British Army .