112th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps
| 112th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Foresters) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941–1944 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Armoured car regiment |
| Role | Reconnaissance |
| Part of | Royal Armoured Corps |
| Disbanded | 14 October 1944 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Col Claude Lancaster, MP |
The 112th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Foresters) (112 RAC) was an armoured car regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II.
112th Regiment RAC was formed on 1 November 1941 by the conversion to the armoured car role of the 9th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment). This was an infantry battalion raised in 1939 that had seen action at the Battle of Dunkirk, originally as part of 139th Brigade of 46th Division, and had since been serving in the lorried infantry role in the Support Group of 1st Armoured Division. The battalion had been under orders to accompany 1st Armoured to the Middle East, but these were cancelled and the men returned their tropical uniforms to store.
In common with other infantry battalions transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps, 112's personnel would have continued to wear their Foresters cap badge on the black beret of the Royal Armoured Corps, and the regiment continued to add the parenthesis '(Foresters)' after the RAC title. The first Commanding Officer was Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lancaster, a Member of Parliament and Reserve officer who had raised 9th Foresters and commanded it at Dunkirk. He was made an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Armoured Corps when his term of command ended.
112 RAC was assigned to the newly formed 42nd Armoured Division as its armoured car regiment. The regiment's initial equipment was the Bison concrete armoured lorry with extemporised armour and Standard Beaverette armoured cars handed over by 42nd Division's Reconnaissance Regiment, with Daimler Dingo scout cars as armoured command vehicles.
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