The 13th Signal Regiment is a specialist signals unit of the Royal Corps of Signals of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Originally formed in 1934, the regiment had a long history of service before being disbanded in 1994 following the initial

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

reforms. The regiment was be reformed in June 2020 as part of 1st Signal Brigade.

History

Formation

During the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the Wireless Observation Groups of the

Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

proven to be successful. As a result, a Royal Corps of Signals was planned to be formed in 1917 however, its formation was delayed until 1920.Lord and Watson, Page 49 The 4th Wireless Signal Company (War Office Signals) was formed in 1934 at Aldershot Garrison to provide signal intelligence activities under the command of the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

. In 1938, the company was re-titled as No. 2 Company, General Headquarters Signals. The company later expanded its responsibility to provide secure communications for the army. In September 1939, the unit was deployed to

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as part of British Expeditionary Force. It was later evacuated at Dunkirk and renamed as the 1st Special Wireless Group on 18 July 1940. Following a short re-organisation, the group was deployed to the

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under the command of the 2nd Special Wireless Group.

Cold War Years

During the Cold War years, the group was based in Minden and re-titled as the 1st Special Wireless Regiment. In August 1946, the regiment moved to Peterborough Barracks and in 1950 in Nelson Barracks in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

. By 1953, the regiment was moved as a result of an analysis of Soviet Forces in East Germany and by 1955, a brand new set of barracks was constructed in Wassenberg-Rothenbach, near Birgelen, on the German-Dutch Border. In 1959, as a result of the

1957 Defence White Paper The 1957 White Paper on Defence (Cmnd. 124) was a British white paper issued in March 1957 setting forth the perceived future of the British military. It had profound effects on all aspects of the defence industry but probably the most affected w ...

reforms, the regiment was further renamed as 13th (Radio) Signal Regiment. In 1994, the regiment was disbanded as part of the

reforms.

21st Century

As a result of the

Army 2020 Refine Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. Army 2020 Refine The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reac ...

reforms the regiment was reformed on 1 June 2020 under the command of 1st (UK) Signal Brigade.

Structure

The regiment's current structure is as follows: * Regimental Headquarters, at Blandford CampRoyal Corps of Signals Regimental Information.Royal Corps of Signals, The Wire–Winter 2021. * 224 (Cyber Protection Teams) Signal SquadronRoyal Corps of Signals, The Wire – Winter 2020. * 233 (Global Communication Networks) Signal Squadron, at Basil Hill Barracks,

MoD Corsham MOD Corsham (formerly Basil Hill Barracks) is a Ministry of Defence establishment located between the towns of Corsham and Box in Wiltshire, England. History The War Office bought a section of the Pockeridge estate to provide space for Basil ...

* 259 (Global Information Systems) Signal Squadron ** Combat Information Systems (CIS) Trails and Development Unit (CISTDU) * Specialist Group Information Services (SGIS)

Notes

References

Sources

* Lord, Cliff, and Graham Watson. ''The Royal Corps of Signals Unit Histories of the Corps (1920-2001) and Its Antecedents''. Helion and Company, 2003.
"Royal Signals"
''www.army.mod.uk''. Retrieved 2019-10-20. * Watson, Graham E. and Rinaldi, Richard A. ''The British Army in Germany (BAOR and After): An Organisational History 1947-2004'' Tiger Lily Publications LLC 2005. {{ISBN, 0-9720296-9-9 Regiments of the British Army in World War II Regiments of the Royal Corps of Signals Military units and formations established in 1934