Liverpool an RTR Stronghold

PRESENTATION OF CAPTAIN CHARLES HULTON’S SWORD TO FALCON SQUADRON (C-CBRN)

Mr Tim Allan and Major John Green

On a bright sunny morning on the 2 Sept 2021 in Warminster Mr Tim Allan arrived at Harman lines with a very special presentation for the RTR. In the back of Tim’s car was a significant piece of RTR history, a sword owned by Capt Charles Hulton, 6RTR.

Tim takes up the story: ‘In 1996, I completed my stint as adjutant of 1RTR, and was appointed as Equerry to HRH The Duke of York at Buckingham Palace. Royal Equerries for senior members of The Royal Family serve two years in post, and organise their public lives and diaries including all events. Given the state occasions that this includes, I had to piece together a full ceremonial suite of uniforms to convert a dusty tank officer into a shiny member of the royal household. During my 8 years at RD, I had never owned my own sword relying on the “the Mess Sword” for duties and ceremonial activities. I presented my problem to Lt Col (Retd) John Longman at RHQ RTR who said that, by chance, a family had been in touch to say they had found an RTR sword in their recently passed mothers’s personal effects. I met the lovely family at their house near Westbury and they produced a pristine sword in a leather campaign sleeve with a label tied to the hilt. The label stated it was part of the personal effects of Captain Charles Hulton 6RTR, who had died of wounds in Egypt 1941 - her beloved brother. She had kept his sword all her life, and the family wanted another Officer to carry it again. I must say that this was very moving, and so it was my honour to carry his sword on Remembrance Sundays at the Cenotaph in the years that followed. It served as a reminder of his sacrifice, the Hulton family’s loss, and the loss of all service personnel in combat.’ On the 80th anniversary of Charles Hulton’s death marked by the Regimental historian Gareth Davies via Facebook, Tim felt that the sword with so much RTR history should return to active service and be once again carried by an Officer of the RTR. With Westbury, where the sword had been kept for so many years, so close to FALCON, it was an obvious choice to return the sword to the Regt via FALCON. The sword will be mounted in FALCON’s office with a description of the swords journey and in particular describing Capt Charles and his ultimate sacrifice for the Regiment.

CAPT CHARLES HULTON, 6RTR

The Hultons were a family of Tankies. Charles’ father, John (a first-class county cricketer) had been an Infantry Officer in the Great War before he transferred to the Tank Corps in 1923. Charles followed his father to Charterhouse (where he played cricket of course) and then into the Royal Tank Corps. By March 1941 he was OC HQ Squadron, 6RTR. The Regt was in the Beda Fomm area when, on 22 March 1941, SHQ HQ Squadron was attacked by three German planes. The Officers' Mess lorry was hit. Rev J Bond, CofE padre from 3rd Armd Bde, who was visiting the Regt was killed. Capt Hulton was badly wounded and on 26 March he was evacuated to Cairo, where he died of his wounds on 7th May 1941.

Tim Allen presenting FALCON with the sword