Malta Tanks (Royal Tank Regiment)

The Malta Tanks was a unit designation for an independent Royal Tank Regiment unit made of a mixture of British tank types deployed to Malta in World War II.

Role and deployment

The first armoured unit destined for Malta was organised in 1940. The unit was formed with strength of five officers and 62 other ranks; and was attached to 44th Royal Tank Regiment prior to its embarkation for Malta; the unit was part of Malta Command.
On 28 November 1940 1 Independent Troop, 44 RTR arrived on Malta on Convoy R.45. The troop's heavy equipment included:

Four Matilda II infantry tanks
Two Light Tank Mk VIB
Four motorcycles
Four Bedford OXD 30-cwt lorries
Two 15-cwt trucks
One 15-cwt water bowser
One 'Car Utility'.

In 1942 the tanks of A Squadron 6th Royal Tank Regiment arrived on the island. By 30 June 1942 the British armour was organised thus:

One troop of Vickers Light Tanks
Two troops of cruiser tanks
One troop of Matilda tanks

A Squadron 6 RTR group was made up of three officers also arrived in 1942.
The unit never became larger than 19 vehicles and did not see action. It spent the war patrolling, boosting morale across central Malta and acting as tugs removing damaged aircraft from runways.

Equipment

Malta Tanks was equipped with five types of tank during its time on the Island.

Name	Type	Photo	Notes
Light Tank Mk VI	Reconnaissance tank		Dual turret fit of a Vickers machine gun.5in and.303 or Dual turret fit of a Besa 15mm and 7.92 mm Machine Guns. Three Deployed
Matilda II	Infantry Support Tank		40mm 2-pounder gun & 7.92 mm coaxial Besa machine gun. Four Deployed
Cruiser Mk I	Cruiser tank		40mm 2-pounder gun & three 0.303 Vickers machine gun. At least one deployed
Cruiser Mk III	Cruiser tank		40mm 2-pounder gun, coaxial 7.92 mm Besa machine gun. Seven or less Deployed
Valentine Mark III	Infantry tank		40mm 2-pounder gun, coaxial 7.92 mm Besa machine gun. Four deployed