36 (Eastern) Signal Regiment (36 Signal Regt) was a Territorial Army (TA) signal unit of the British Army's

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

(RCS). The regiment was formed following the formation of the TAVR in 1967, and was disbanded in 2009 following a reorganisation in the RCS. Though not disbanded, the regiment continues its lineage as a squadron, with its own former squadrons forming troops within said squadron.

Formation

In 1967, a massive reorganisation 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 ...

took place, whereas the Territorial Army (TA) and Army Emergency Reserve (AER) were merged and their strength more than halved. Within the

(RCS), new signal regiments were formed with regional connections, and one of these new units was 36 (Eastern) Signal Regiment. The new regiment was formed following the amalgamation of several signal units based in the

East of England The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...

; 44th (Home Counties), 45th (Essex), and 54th (East Anglian) Signal Regiments.Lord & Watson, pp. 142–143.Drenth, p. 62. The new regiment's structure on formation was as follows: * 36 (Eastern) Signal Regiment ** Regimental Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, in

Wanstead Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...

** 44 (Cinque Ports) Signal Squadron, in Gillingham *** Squadron Headquarters *** 746 Control Centre Signal Troop *** 747 Control Centre Signal Troop *** 748 Control Centre Signal Troop *** 818 Radio Relay Signal Troop ** 45 (Essex) Signal Squadron, in

*** Squadron Headquarters *** 750 Control Centre Signal Troop, in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

*** 751 Control Centre Signal Troop, in Brentwood *** 752 Control Centre Signal Troop, in Ilford *** 817 Radio Relay Signal Troop ** 54 (East Anglian) Signal Squadron, in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

*** Squadron Headquarters *** 753 Control Centre Signal Troop *** 754 Control Centre Signal Troop, in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

*** 755 Control Centre Signal Troop, in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

*** 819 Radio Relay Signal Troop ** 36 Signal Regiment Light Aid Detachment (LAD),

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

, in Newbury Park The year the new regiment was formed, 12th Signal Group was formed up at

Chelsea Barracks Chelsea Barracks was a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster, London, between the districts of Belgravia, Chelsea and Pimlico on Chelsea Bridge Road. The barracks closed in the late 2000s, and the site is currently being red ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. 12 Group's task was to provide communications for logistics units in the Rear Combat Zone (RCZ) and Communications Zone (CommZ) British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). The specific task allotted to 36 Regiment was to provide the field communications for the logistics units in the Forward Maintenance Area (FMA), a sub area of the RCZ (the other being Rear Maintenance Area (RMA)), and to link Rear HQ 1 (BR) Corps into the Logistic Communications of the RCZ.

Reorganisation

In 1970, the regiment's organisation was altered when 818 Signal Troop was reorganised into two new troops, each one co-located with 45 and 54 Signal Squadrons, these two new troops were deemed 'Brick troops'. In 1985, 45 Signal Squadron moved to

, while 752 Signal Troop consolidated there, and 751 Signal Troop remained in Brentwood. In 1992, HQ squadron moved to Ilford, and in December 44 Sqn moved to Grays, while maintaining two troops remained in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

. That same year, the radio relay troops were disbanded as part of the

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, ...

, in addition to the regiment leaving the recently disbanded 12 Signal Group, and joining the expanded

2nd (National Communications) Signal Brigade The 2nd Signal Brigade (later 2nd Signal Group), was a military formation of the British Army composed of Royal Corps of Signals units. The brigade was first formed following the reorganisation of the old Territorial Army in 1967, and was disban ...

. The Regiment disbanded the Radio Relay troops, and reorganised to 4 Euromux Communications troops per squadron, so as an example 54 Signal Squadron in

became: *** Squadron Headquarters *** 754 Signal Troop, in

*** 755 Signal Troop, in

*** 756 Signal Troop, in

*** 757 Signal Troop, in

From 1987, the regiment was equipped with the ''EUROMUX'' signal system, and tasked with supporting the

Allied Rapid Reaction Corps The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters ready for deployment worldwide. History The ARRC was created on 1 October 1992 in Bielefeld based on the former I (Britis ...

on mobilisation. By this time the regiment joined the 11th (Allied Rapid Reaction Corps) Signal Brigade, but was transferred to 12th Signal Group (V) by 2003.

Disbandment

In 2006, the regiment was reorganised in-line with the Future Army Structure programme. Under this reorganisation, 44 Sqn was disbanded while helping to form the new RHQ, and the squadrons reorganised; On disbandment in 2009 the Regiment comprised: *Regimental Headquarters - Cambridge *45 (Close Support) Squadron **SHQ and A Troop - Colchester **B Troop - Ipswich **C Troop - Southend *54 (Support) Squadron **SHQ and Troop - Cambridge *60 (Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars) Signal Squadron **SHQ and A Troop - Aylesbury **B Troop and C Troop - Bedford Under the Strategic Review of the Reserves in April, 2009 the Regiment was downsized to a squadron, and became the 36 (East Anglian) Signal Squadron, based at Colchester, under 37 Signal Regiment based at Redditch. 36 (East Anglian) Signal Squadron comprises: *844 Cinque Ports Signal Troop - Colchester *845 Essex Signal Signal Troop - Colchester *854 East Anglian Signal Troop - Cambridge 60 (Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars) Signal Squadron also downsized to 860 (Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars) Signal Troop and became part of the Berkshire Yeomanry, 94 Signal Squadron, under 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment, at Bristol. The former Regimental Headquarters (RHQ) at Ilford was redesignated as RHQ, 101st Engineer Regiment. Both 860 Signal Troop at Aylesbury and 854 Signal Troop at Cambridge were removed from the Army's order of battle in the SDSR changes at the end of 2013, and in April 2014 907 Signal troop at Chelmsford moved from 68 (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) Signal Squadron to 36 Signal squadron, allowing the squadron to be renamed as 36 (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron. In 2009, as part of the reorganisation of the TA, wholesale mergers and disbandments took place throughout the

. As part of the reorganisation, 36 Signal Regiment was reduced to 36 (Eastern) Signal Squadron, based in

with 845 (Essex) Signal Troop in

, 854 (East Anglian) Signal Troop in

, while 60 Sqn was became a signal troop under

94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Signal Squadron The Berkshire Yeomanry was a part time regiment of the British Army formed in 1794 to counter the threat of invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was the Royal County of Berkshire's senior volunteer unit with over 200 years of volunta ...

Under the Strategic Defence and Security Review in 2013, 907 (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Troop was subordinated to 36 Signal Squadron, which then became 36 (Essex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron, part of

71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 11th Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. History Th ...

., though remained in

. In addition, 854 Troop was transferred to the Intelligence Corps as 32 Military Intelligence Company

Honorary Colonels

Honorary Colonels of the regiment included: * 1 April 1967 – 1 April 1974:

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

( Honorary Colonel) Sir Derek Burdick Greenaway, 2nd Baronet, TD, JP * 1 April 1974 – 1 April 1979:

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Peter Desmond Vaigncourt-Strallen * 1 April 1979 – 20 July 1985:

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Geoffrey Seymour Hamilton Dicker, CBE, TD – former Honorary Colonel of 54 (East Anglian) Signal Regiment * 20 July 1985–1 January 1990: Colonel Michael Howard Seys-Phillips, TD, DL * 1 January 1990–1 May 2001: Colonel Alan Edmund Matticot Hall, TD, DL * 1 May 2001–1 June 2006: Colonel Stephen P. Foakes, TD, DL – later Honorary Colonel of 71 Signal Regiment * 1 June 2006–1 April 2010:

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

John Seumas Kerr, CBE

Regimental links

The regiment maintained strong links with the Worshipful Company of Poulters of London, whom their annual award for the best soldier in the regiment was named for – the Poulters Plate.

Footnotes

References

* {{cite book, last=Lord, first=Cliff, title=The Royal Corps of Signals : unit histories of the Corps (1920-2001) and its antecedents, publisher=Helion & Company, year=2004, isbn=978-1-874622-92-5, publication-place=Solihull, West Midlands, England, oclc=184820114 Regiments of the Royal Corps of Signals Military units and formations established in 1967 Military units and formations disestablished in 2010