A Brief History of the Royal Signals

The Corps of Signals was formed on 28 June 1920 but its ancestry in the field of military communications is long and illustrious, the direct forebears being the Royal Engineers Signal Service.
Some form of signalling has been used by armies in the field since earliest times but major technological advances were made throughout the 19th century in telegraphy, visual signalling and despatch services.
Although it was very slow in developing, wireless began to exert an influence and in 1907 the first Wireless Telegraph Companies were formed. In 1908 there followed the birth of the RE Signal Service which became responsible for all forms of inter-communication. It was formed just in time for World War I (1914 - 18). By the end of the war the RE Signals Service was providing a comparatively lavish scale of communications. The prestige of the Service was very high and the Army recognised the extent to which it depended upon efficient signal communications.
The official agreement to form a separate Signal Corps was made in 1918 before the end of World War I, but due to various policy delays its formation was delayed until 28 June 1920. A Royal Warrant was signed by the Secretary of State for War, Rt Hon Winston S Churchill, giving the Sovereign's approval to the formation of the Corps of Signals. On 5 August 1920, His Majesty King George V conferred on the new Corps the high honour of the title 'Royal'. Thus was born the Royal Corps of Signals.
The Corps motto Certa Cito means 'Swift and Sure'.

Roles and Responsibilities

Royal Signals has two principal roles on the battlefield:

To provide Command Control Communications and Information Systems (C3IS) for the commanders of the battle.

To provide a Command and Control Warfare (C2W) capability.
C3IS: The battlefield is a complex arena requiring co-ordination of diverse elements spread over a wide geographical area. Vast amounts of information and data need to be passed and processed. Most importantly, the Commander must be able to command his forces. Royal Signals provide the means for this to happen. The systems must be flexible, reliable and battleworthy. They must be able to pass in a secure and timely manner, facsimile, voice, telegraph and data. In effect, the Corps is the nervous system of the Army's body.

C3IS Equipment: The Corps operates three main types of battlefield equipment:

Combat Net Radio. The current range of equipment is CLANSMAN but this will be replaced by BOWMAN at the start of the new millennium. It is the principal means by which a commander exercises command in battle and it uses mainly secure voice.

Trunk Communications. The current range of equipment uses PTARMIGAN and EUROMUX equipment to provide battlefield area coverage communications. This is often referred to as 'BT on wheels (or armour in some cases)'. It provides: Secure mobile telephones across the battlefield. Secure telephones in Brigade Headquarters and higher. Facsimile and data. Telegraph. Satellite. They provide both operational links in theatre, and strategic links back to the UK or senior Headquarters. They can range from small manpack sets to large vehicle transportable equipment.

C2W: C2W is the offensive capability by which we deny an enemy the ability to command and co-ordinate his forces. Much of the work in this area is classified and is carried out jointly with the Intelligence Corps. The capability has three main components: Search. Enemy communications, radar or other form of electronic emission are detected.

Intercept. The potential target is intercepted from which will follow: Direction Finding (DF). The location of the transmitter.

Analysis. Intelligence is gleaned from the transmission eg type of equipment, the unit it belongs to or the role of the unit.

Offensive Action. Having intercepted and analysed a target, further action may take place in one of two forms:

Deception. The enemy is deceived by transmitting fake information.

Destruction or Neutralisation. The enemy is attacked with artillery, air strike (hard kill) or jamming (soft kill).

Organisation: The strength of Royal Signals is approximately 900 officers, 8,200 regular soldiers and 5,300 TA soldiers. The Corps constitutes about 9% of the British Army. The size, role and deployment of Royal Signals units are organised to meet the command and control requirements of the formation commanders. Because of this no two units have the same organisation or role.

Royal Signals with a Satcom dish.

The Royal Signals mobile radio.

The Royal Signals mobile secure battlefield system.

Regimental march - "Begone Dull Care".

A better page about the Royal Signals may be found here.