History
A BRIEF HISTORY OF
38th SIGNAL REGIMENT (VOLUNTEERS)
The Regiment was formed as part of 13th Signal Group on 1st April 1967, from an amalgamation of three existing units based in Derby, Sheffield and Nottingham. They were, respectively, 46th (North Midland) Signal Regiment TA, 64th Signal Regiment TA and 337th Brigade Signal Squadron. The headquarters of the new Regiment, together with Headquarter Squadron and 64th Signal Squadron, were initially established in ad-hoc accommodation in Sheffield before being eventually re-housed in purpose built premises at Manor Top in 1980. HRH The Princess Royal, Colonel in Chief of the Royal Corps of Signals, visited the Regiment in the same year. Existing TA Centres in Nottingham and Derby were used to house 87th Signal Squadron and 46th Signal Squadron respectively; the latter squadron also included a detached troop in Leicester.
The senior of the new Regiment's forebears, 46th (North Midlands) Signal Regiment TA, could trace its lineage back to the North Midland Telegraph Company Royal Engineers, which was raised in Stoke-on-Trent in 1908. It served with distinction on the Western Front during the First World War before being reformed in Derby in 1920 as 46th (North Midlands) Divisional Signals. As a result of the rapid expansion of the TA in 1939, North Midlands signallers formed the basis of 4th and 10th Corps Signals and soon saw active service at Dunkirk and at the Battle of El Alamein. They later took part in the invasion of Italy and also served with distinction in both Greece and Burma.
In 1968 the Blackburn based cadre of the former East Lancashire Regiment was transformed into 93rd (East Lancashire) Signal Squadron (Volunteers) and joined the Regiment. In October 1992, following a nationwide restructuring of the Army, the Blackburn squadron was transferred to 37th Signal Regiment (Volunteers). At the same time 70th (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, from Chelmsford, briefly joined the Regiment; it was transferred back to 71st (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment in 1995. In July 2006, following further restructuring of the Army, 93rd (East Lancashire) Signal Squadron (Volunteers) re-joined the Regiment.
The Regiment has always sought to foster close ties with the local communities in which it is based. As an outward display of these bonds, city names were officially incorporated into respective titles. In April 1995, the Regiment officially became 38th (City of Sheffield) Signal Regiment (Volunteers) at a renaming parade held in the presence of the Lord Mayor of Sheffield. The Mayor of Derby attended a parade in March 1996 that brought into being the title 46th (City of Derby) Signal Squadron (Volunteers) and the Lord Mayor of Nottingham attended a similar parade in February 1998 at which the title 87th (City of Nottingham) Signal Squadron (Volunteers) was formally adopted.
The Regiment's first Commanding Officer was a Regular officer, Lieutenant Colonel (later Colonel) John Francis. He went on to become Regimental Secretary of the Royal Corps of Signals and was also Honorary Colonel of the Regiment. The Regiment's present Honorary Colonel, Colonel Christopher Jewitt DL, a former Master Cutler, was appointed in August 2002.
The Regiment's primary signals skills are in the arena of High Frequency radio communications. The original, but ageing, network of D11 and D13 radio stations were finally replaced with the then ‘state of the art’ National Communications Radio System (NCRS) in the early 1990s. This was subsequently replaced by REEBOK, a state-of-the-art voice and data communications system, which provides effective command and control of MOD assets should they be deployed within the UK in support of central government and local authority contingency plans, primarily during times of national or regional emergency.
In recent years, the Regiment has gained a considerable reputation in the field of computer networks and associated information technology. This, coupled with the 1998 Strategic Defence Review’s drive to seek ‘wider utility’ for the Territorial Army, has led to operational and training deployments in a diverse range of locations - from Australia and the United States of America to Romania and Western Europe.
Whilst remaining firmly based in South Yorkshire, Lancashire and the East Midlands, the Regiment is now part of the Corsham-based 2nd (National Communications) Signal Brigade and has a remit to provide contingency communications throughout the whole of the Northern England, from the Scottish Borders to the Northern Home Counties. In this role it provides direct support to the York-based 15th (North East) Brigade, the Preston-based 42nd (North West) Brigade and the Nottingham-based 49th (East) Brigade.
The 1996 Reserve Forces Act offered TA soldiers a variety of new ways in which they could serve alongside their Regular counterparts and a significant number of individuals have taken the chance to serve full-time for periods from three months to two years. To date, more than fifty volunteers have seen service in the Balkans, the Falkland Islands, the Arabian Gulf, Germany and elsewhere. Additionally a number of soldiers from each of the Regiment’s Squadrons were mobilised in 2003 to take part in Operation TELIC in Iraq.
In Autumn 2001, twelve members of the Regiment, under command of Major Andrew Smith TD, deployed to form part of 97th (BRITFOR) Signal Squadron (Volunteers). The Squadron was a composite independent Territorial sub-unit, mobilised to provide information and communication services (ICS) support to the British Forces in Bosnia for a six month period. Major Smith was awarded an MBE for his service in commanding 97 Signal Squadron. In 2005 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and was selected to be the Commanding Officer of 38th Signal Regiment, an appointment he held from May 2005 to November 2007. The Regiment was the 2nd (National Communications) Brigade lead for a similar pan-Balkans Signal Squadron that deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo in April 2004 and for a Troop that deploys to Kosovo in March 2009.