Description
Physical description
Black Royal Tank Regiment beret with silver RTR cap badge and Field Marshal's gold wire embroidered cap badge with crossed batons on a red velvet backing. The beret, dated 1943, has a black leather sweat band.
Label
The black beret was officially adopted as the headdress of the Royal Tank Corps (later Royal Tank Regiment) as a replacement for the standard issue service dress cap. The unsuitability of the khaki peaked cap had been recognised very shortly after the introduction of the Tank. Some discussion on what would be the best form of headdress for this new breed of soldier had taken place during the First World War, particularly at a period when the French 70th Chasseurs Alpin regiment were training with the Tank Corps in May 1918. General Sir Hugh J Elles, Colonel Commandant of the RTC was favourably impressed with the type of beret worn by these French mountain troops and still more so when he tried one on. As a result, he recommended in 1922 that a broadly similar type of headdress should be introduced for wear by the Tank Corps. However the large beret worn by the Chasseurs Alpins was considered too sloppy, whilst the Basque beret, as worn by the Chars d'Assault - the French tank troops - was thought too skimpy. So the final pattern chosen was a compromise and rather more akin to the Scottish Tan-O'Shanter. It was this description that was used in submitting the proposal to King George V in November 1923. The King approved the wearing of the black beret in March 1921.
History note
This 1943-dated black Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) beret was worn by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery during the Second World War. As the beret features the rank insignia of Field Marshal, it was likely worn by Montgomery after his promotion to this rank on 1 September 1944, a period in which he commanded the 21st Army Group in Northwest Europe, although it is possible that he wore it before this date and simply had it re-badged (there are several black RTR berets with Montgomery provenance in existence).
The distinctive black RTR beret, synonymous with the image of Montgomery during the Second World War, is believed to have been adopted as an item of his personal dress after being gifted one by the driver of his command tank, Sergeant James 'Jock' Fraser, during the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 (this first beret is in the collection of the Tank Museum in Bovington). Believing that it was important for him to visually stand out to those under his command, Montgomery was eager to avoid wearing the standard peaked Service Dress cap worn by most general officers, and had previously worn an Australian-style slouch out before settling on the black RTR beret, wearing this for the remainder of the war and the immediate post-war period.
