The Queen's Gurkha Signals (QG SIGNALS) is a regular unit of

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

, one of the combat support arms of

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Together with the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, the Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, the

Royal Gurkha Rifles The Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR) is a rifle regiment of the British Army, forming part of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Unlike other regiments in the British Army, RGR soldiers are recruited from Nepal, which is neither a dependent territory of the Unit ...

, and a number of smaller support units, they form part of the

Brigade of Gurkhas Brigade of Gurkhas is the collective name which refers to all the units in the British Army that are composed of Gurkha, Nepalese Gurkha soldiers. The brigade draws its heritage from Gurkha units that originally served in the British Indian Arm ...

. QGS was formed during The Malayan Emergency to support the 17th Gurkha Division.

History

The history of Queen's Gurkha Signals dates back to 1911 when Gurkha Signallers were employed in the three Indian Corps of Sappers and Miners (Bombay, Bengal, and Madras). It was not until the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the whole companies of Gurkha signallers existed within these three Corps. Eventually at the end of 1928 these corps were phased out of service due to an insufficient work force. The second Gurkha Signals unit was created during The Malayan Emergency. The unit was raised to support the Gurkha Infantry involved in battle against communist anti-colonial guerilla organization, the

Malayan National Liberation Army The Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) was a Communist guerrilla army that fought for Malayan independence from the British Empire during the Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) and later fought against the Malaysian government in the Commun ...

. This unit was fully composed of Gurkhas unlike the previous incarnation. On 18 December 1959, the newly formed unit was christened 48th Gurkha Brigade Signal Squadron with its commander Major L H Gregory MBE.

Titles of the regiment and its predecessor

As a part of Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations 1977, the Regiment regained its Royal title, along with the Gurkha Engineers, becoming Queen's Gurkha Signals. The Royal title and Royal crown were officially adapted on 20 April 1977. Titles of the regiment and its predecessor are as follows: *Gurkha Signals (1948–1949) *Gurkha Royal Signals (1949–1954) *Gurkha Signals (1954–1977) *Queen's Gurkha Signals (since 1977)

Cap badge and colours

Cap badge

During its formation year all the men were titled Gurkha Royal Signals and wore the badge of the Royal Corps of Signals, 'Jimmy'. On 23 September 1954, Maj Gen LECM Perowne CBE presented the unit with their own cap badge and since that day the regiment celebrates its birthday on 23 September. On 21 April 1956 an honour was bestowed upon the Regiment when Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal presented her pipe banner to the Pipes and Drums. Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal has continued to serve as the Colonel-in-Chief of QGS as she is of

Emblem

Two Khukuris point upwards, the hands crossed in saltire, the cutting edges of the blades inwards, between the blades the figure of Mercury on a globe, the latter supported above by a scroll bearing the motto 'Certa Cito' and below by nine laurel leaves, the whole surmounted by Saint Edward's Crown. The regiment were also given permission to adopt the Red Grant tartan and thus began affiliation with the Scottish Regiment.

Structure

Active

The unit has seven squadrons: *242 Squadron –

MOD Stafford Ministry of Defence Stafford otherwise known as MOD Stafford, Stafford Station or Beacon Barracks is a Ministry of Defence site in Stafford, in England. It was formerly Royal Air Force Stafford or more simply RAF Stafford, a non-flying Royal Air ...

*243 Squadron – Swinton Barracks, Perham Down *246 Squadron – Swinton Barracks, Perham Down *247 Squadron –

*248 Squadron –

*249 Squadron –

Bulford Camp Bulford Camp is a military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1897, the site continues in use as a large British Army base. The camp is close to the village of Bulford and is about north-east of the town of Amesb ...

, Salisbury Plain *250 Squadron –

Gamecock Barracks Gamecock Barracks is a British Army installation located at Bramcote, south-east of Nuneaton in Warwickshire. History The barracks was established on the site of the former RAF Bramcote airbase in 1959. It was named after HMS ''Gamecock'', the ...

, Bramcote

References

Bibliography

External links

Queen's Gurkha Signals
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Military units and formations established in 1949 Brigade of Gurkhas