London District Signals was a headquarters signal unit of the

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 ...

(RE) and later

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 ...

in Britain's Territorial Army from 1908. It served with a corps headquarters at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

and on the Western Front during

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 ...

, and later became an air defence signal unit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Its successor unit continues in the

Army Reserve A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

today.

Origin

When the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

was created in 1908 as a result of the

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

, the London Division, Electrical Engineers of the Royal Engineers (Volunteers) spun off three telegraph companies, later termed signal companies:Lord & Watson, p. 184. * London Wireless Signal Company * London Cable Signal Company * London Air-Line Signal Company Together, these companies formed London District Signals, defined as 'Army Troops RE' in the TF organisation, serving HQ

London District London District (LONDIST) is the name given by the British Army to the area of operations encompassing the Greater London area. It was established in 1870 as ''Home District''. History In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in ...

based at Horse Guards. The unit headquarters was at 12 Palmer Street,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

.''Army List'', August 1914.Nalder pp. 618–9.

World War I

On the outbreak of war in August 1914 the London Wireless Signal Company was temporarily attached to

1st Mounted Division The 1st Mounted Division was a Yeomanry Division of the British Army active during World War I. It was formed in August 1914 for the home defence of the United Kingdom from four existing mounted brigades of the Territorial Force, each of three ...

, but had left by March 1915. On 3 November 1914 a London Motor Airline Section embarked for the Western Front. In June 1915, London District Signals joined

IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial Germ ...

HQ forming at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

and went to

as IX Corps Signals. After the evacuation from Gallipoli, the Corps HQ went to France and served on the Western Front until the end of the war. The Corps Signals also ran a Signals Training Centre.

Interwar

When the renamed Territorial Army (TA) was reconstituted in 1920, London District Signals was reformed as 1st London Corps Signals (Army Troops) in the

. It was retitled as Anti-Aircraft Signals in 1922, and then Air Defence Signals in 1925 when it formed 26th (London) and 27th (London) Anti-Aircraft Brigade Signals Companies. When 1st Anti-Aircraft Division was formed at

RAF Uxbridge RAF Uxbridge was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station in Uxbridge, within the London Borough of Hillingdon, occupying a site that originally belonged to the Hillingdon House estate. The British Government purchased the estate in 1915, three years ...

in 1935 (with 26 and 27 AA Bdes under command), the unit provided the signals component. It was based at 46 Regency Street, the former Drill Hall of the London Electrical Engineers. The divisional signals unit was duplicated for 6th Anti-Aircraft Division in 1939 when the TA doubled in size after the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy. It provided "cession to Germany ...

. 6th AA Division took responsibility for the air defence of the Thames estuary, Essex and North Kent, with its HQ at RAF Uxbridge. Just before mobilisation, the regiment organised as: * Regimental Headquarters at Regency Street,

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 ...

commanded by

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

A. Hemsley,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

, TD * No.1, 2, and 3 Signal Companies at Regency Street,

* Cadet Affiliation — 'D' Company, 1st West London Cadet Corps

World War II

Together, 1st and 6th AA Divisions defended London and the Thames Estuary during

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. As the war developed, increasing numbers of women from the

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existed until 1 Februa ...

(ATS) became integrated into AA and signals units, which were termed 'Mixed'. By June 1942, the composition of the two units was as follows: 1st AA Divisional Signals * Commanding Officer: Lieutenant-Colonel A. Hemsley,

, TD (1939–45) * 1st AA Divisional Mixed Signal Unit HQ ** HQ No 1 Company: *** 1 AA Command Mixed Signal Office Section *** 1 AA Division Mixed Signal Office Section *** 26 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 38 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 48 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 49 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section ** HQ No 2 Company: *** 601 AA Gun Operations Room (Class 'D') Mixed Signal Section *** 315 AA Gun Operations Room (Class 'B') Mixed Signal Section *** 112 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section *** 5 AA Line Maintenance Section 1st AA Divisional Signals had provided

Anti-Aircraft Command Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom. Origin ...

's Signals section since the latter's establishment in 1938. Between 1940 and 1942, both 1st and 6th AA Divisions came under 1st Aa Corps, but from June 1942, 1st AA Division was directly under AA Command HQ. 6th AA Divisional Signals * Commanding Officer: Lieutenant-Colonel G.J. Morley-Peel, MBE, TD (1939–44) * 6th AA Divisional Mixed Signal Unit HQ ** HQ No 1 Company: *** 6 AA Division Mixed Signal Office Section *** 6 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 102 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section *** 103 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section *** 329 AA Gun Operations Room (Class 'B') Mixed Signal Section *** 37 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 309 AA Gun Operations Room (Class 'B') Mixed Signal Section *** 15 AA Line Maintenance Section ** HQ No 2 Company: *** 328 AA Gun Operations Room (Class 'B') Mixed Signal Section *** 28 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 56 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 101 RAF Fighter Sector Sub-Section *** 310 AA Gun Operations Room (Class 'B') Mixed Signal Section *** 71 AA Brigade Signal Office Mixed Sub-Section *** 16 AA Line Maintenance Section When AA Command was reorganised in October 1942 the two divisions became 1 AA Group and 2 AA Group, with the signals units renamed 1st and 2nd AA Group (Mixed) Signals. The two groups operated alongside

No. 11 Group RAF No. 11 Group is a group in the Royal Air Force first formed in 1918. It had been formed and disbanded for various periods during the 20th century before disbanding in 1996 and reforming again in 2018. Its most famous service was in 1940 in the Ba ...

and took a leading role in defence against

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

s (

Operation Diver Operation Diver was the British codename for countermeasures against the V-1 flying bomb campaign launched by the German in 1944 against London and other parts of Britain. Diver was the codename for the V-1, against which the defence consisted of ...

) in 1944–45.

Postwar

On the re-establishment of the TA in 1947, 1 and 2 AA Group Signals re-merged and were numbered 11 AA (Mixed) Signal Regiment, 'Mixed' now indicating that members of the

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and cha ...

(successors to the ATS) were integrated into the unit. The new unit was based at

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

. The unit was retained when

AA Command Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom. Origin ...

was disbanded in 1955, becoming Eastern Command Mixed Signal Regiment, the East Anglian District Signal Regiment of the Army Emergency Reserve (AER). Eastern Command Signal Regiment was numbered 83 Signal Regiment in 1959. Meanwhile, elements of 11 AA Signal Rgt joined the disbanding 259 (Home Counties) (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery to form Home Counties District (Mixed) Signal Regiment with HQ at Shorncliffe. This became 62 (Mixed) Signal Regiment (Cinque Ports), and merged with

44 (Home Counties) Signal Regiment 44 (Home Counties) Signal Regiment was a Territorial Army (United Kingdom), Territorial Army (TA) unit of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals. It had its origins in a Volunteer Force, Volunteer unit of the Royal Engineers (RE) formed in the ...

in 1961. The size of the TA was reduced in 1967, when 83 Signal Regiment (AER) became 83 Signal Squadron (Volunteers) and later 83 Support Squadron in 31 (City of London) Signal Regiment, which was disbanded in 2010. In 2010, 83 Support Sqn was renamed 47 Signal Troop, (recognising the former 47th (2nd London) Division) and became part of 71 (City of London Yeomanry) Signal Regiment. The Troop is based in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxbrid ...

and

Southfields Southfields is a district of inner London located within the London Borough of Wandsworth, England, 5.6 miles (9 km) south-west of Charing Cross. Southfields is mainly residential, historically a part of Wandsworth itself, and is divided b ...

.71 Yeomanry Signal Rgt at British Army website
/ref>

Honorary Colonel

The first Honorary Colonel of London District Signals was Col A. Bain, TD,

MICE A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, MIEE, appointed on 14 July 1912.

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56)'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, ISBN 1-847347-39-8. * Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, . * Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, ''Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents'', Solihull: Helion, 2003, . * Maj-Gen R.F.H Nalder, ''The Royal Corps of Signals: A History of its Antecedents and Developments (Circa 1800–1955)'', London: Royal Signals Institution, 1958. * ''Titles and Designations of Formations and Units of the Territorial Army'', London: War Office, 7 November 1927.

Online sources

Air Formation Signals Association

British Army website

British Military History

Great War Forum
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Signal units of the Royal Engineers Units and formations of the Royal Corps of Signals Military units and formations in London Military units and formations established in 1908 1908 establishments in the United Kingdom