158th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps

Badge of the Royal Armoured Corps

Active| 1942–1943
Disbanded| 1 April 1943
Country|  United Kingdom
Branch|  British Army
Type| Armoured
Size| Regiment
Part of| Royal Armoured Corps

Military unit

158th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (South Wales Borderers) (158 RAC) was a short-lived armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps serving in India during World War II.

## Origin

[edit]

158 RAC was formed on 15 July 1942 by the conversion to the armoured role of the 6th Battalion, South Wales Borderers, a hostilities-only battalion raised in July 1940, assigned to the 212th Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), serving with the 10th Gloucestershire Regiment, 18th Welch Regiment (which left in May 1941) and the 9th Royal Sussex Regiment.[1] In common with other infantry battalions transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps, the personnel of 158 RAC would have continued to wear their South Wales Borderers cap badge on the black beret of the RAC.[2] Personnel unsuited to fighting in tanks were weeded out by psychiatrists.[3]

## Service

[edit]

158 RAC embarked for passage from the United Kingdom to India on 26 October 1942, arriving on 20 December and moving to Poona. There it came under command of the 255th Indian Tank Brigade. However, there was a change of policy, and on 1 April 1943 the regiment was re-converted to infantry, reverting to its previous title of 6 SWB and coming under command of 72nd Indian Infantry Brigade, still serving alongside the 10th Glosters and 9th Royal Sussex (both of which had also been converted, into 159 RAC and 160 RAC respectively).[4]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Joslen p. 497.
2. ^ Forty pp. 50–51.
3. ^ The Royal Regiment of Wales
4. ^ Joslen pp. 497, 544.

## References

[edit]

* George Forty, British Army Handbook 1939-1945, Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-7509-1403-3.
* Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.

## External links

[edit]

* South Wales Borderers Museum Fact Sheet

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RAC armoured regiments of the Second World War

Regular|

| Dragoons|

* 1st King's Dragoon Guards
* 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)
* 3rd Carabiniers (Prince of Wales Dragoon Guards)
* 4th/7th Dragoon Guards
* 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
* 22nd Dragoons
* 25th Dragoons
* Royal Scots Greys

|

Hussars|

* 3rd The King's Own Hussars
* 4th Queen's Own Hussars
* 7th Queen's Own Hussars
* 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars
* 10th Royal Hussars
* 11th Hussars (Prince Alberts Own)
* 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Marys Own)
* 14th/20th King's Hussars
* 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
* 23rd Hussars
* 26th Hussars

Lancers|

* 9th Queen's Royal Lancers
* 12th Royal Lancers
* 16th/5th Lancers
* 17th/21st Lancers
* 24th Lancers
* 27th Lancers

Royal Tank
Regiments|

* 1st
* 2nd
* 3rd
* 4th
* 5th
* 6th
* 7th
* 8th
* 9th
* 10th
* 11th
* 12th
* 39th
* 40th
* 40th/41st
* 41st
* 42nd (7th East Surrey)
* 43rd (6th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers)
* 44th
* 45th
* 46th
* 47th
* 48th
* 49th
* 50th
* 51st
* 61st
* 62nd
* 65th
* 101st
* 102nd

Regiments
RAC|

* 46
* 107 (King's Own)
* 108 (Lancashire Fusiliers)
* 109
* 110 (Border)
* 111
* 112
* 113
* 114
* 115
* 116
* 141
* 142
* 143
* 144 (East Lancashire)
* 145
* 146
* 147
* 148
* 149
* 150
* 151
* 152
* 153
* 154
* 155
* 156
* 157
* 158
* 159
* 160
* 161
* 162
* 163

Reserve|

| Yeomanry|

* 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry
* 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry
* 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
* 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
* 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)
* 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)
* 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
* 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry
* 1st East Riding Yeomanry
* 2nd East Riding Yeomanry
* Cheshire Yeomanry
* North Somerset Yeomanry
* Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry
* Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry
* Staffordshire Yeomanry
* Warwickshire Yeomanry
* Westminster Dragoons (2nd County of London Yeomanry)

|

* 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
* 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
* 1st Lothians and Border Horse
* 2nd Lothians and Border Horse
* Inns of Court Regiment
* North Irish Horse
* Queen's Own Yorkshire Dragoons
* Yorkshire Hussars

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