The 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) is a part 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 commun ...

. The regiment's role is to provide

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

(EW) capability in support of deployed Land Commanders, in order to enable operations in the electronic battlespace. It is the only British Army regiment capable of conducting sustainable electronic warfare in support of national operations worldwide. The regiment is currently based at

Cawdor Barracks Cawdor Barracks is a British Army installation located east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was an operational airfield between 1944 and 1992, being used by both the Royal Air Force (when it ...

, on the site of the former

RAF Brawdy RAF Brawdy is a former Royal Air Force satellite station located east of St Davids, Pembrokeshire and south west of Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1944 and 1992 being used by both the Royal Air Force and the Royal N ...

, near

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the count ...

, in South Wales.

History

14th Signal Regiment was originally formed on 9 September 1959 in London to provide worldwide communications on behalf 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 (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence (MoD ...

, superseding the United Kingdom Commonwealth Communications Army Network Signal Regiment (COMCAN). During the 1960s the regiment was involved in various activities based around the skills of the units placed under its command, including trials for the development of Skynet satellite. In 1962 the regimental HQ moved to

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

until 1968 when it was relocated to

Norton Barracks Norton Barracks is a military installation in Norton, Worcestershire. The keep is a Grade II listed building. History The barracks were built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style between 1874 and 1877. Their creation took place as part of the Ca ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

from December of that year. The regiment's main role was changed to Force Rear Link following the formation of the Defence Communications Network at

RAF Stanbridge RAF Stanbridge (originally RAF Leighton Buzzard) was a non-flying RAF station situated on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England and located west of the village of Stanbridge, Bedfordshire. For the majority of its life the ...

in 1969. As part of 1st Signal Group the regiment provided detachments to numerous locations worldwide in support of deployed units, including: Northern Ireland,

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territ ...

and Honduras (1969), Jordan (1970), the United Arab Emirates (1971),

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

(1972) and twenty other countries over the following four years. This busy chapter finally came to an end on 6 November 1976 when it amalgamated with

30 Signal Regiment 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many socie ...

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and it ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

. It reformed as 14th Signal Regiment (Electronic Warfare) at Tofrek Barracks,

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

in Germany on 1 July 1977 with a headquarters and three squadrons to provide electronic warfare support to the Commander of

1st British Corps I Corps ("First Corps") was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-liv ...

. 1 Squadron was based in

Langeleben Langeleben is a historical location at 260 m above sea level, in the northern part of the Elm ridge in Lower Saxony, Germany and today belongs to the nearby town of Königslutter am Elm. Langeleben was a crossing point for three ancient roads ...

, 2 Squadron in

Wesendorf Wesendorf is a municipality in the district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km north of Gifhorn Gifhorn () is a town and capital of the district of Gifhorn (district), Gifhorn in the east of Lower Saxon ...

and 3 Squadron was co-located with the RHQ in Hildesheim. In April 1978, the regimental headquarters was re-sited to Ironside Barracks, in Scheuen, north of

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

in order to be closer to the sub-units under its command. This only presented temporary accommodation and so the regiment moved again in 1985 to Taunton Barracks, Celle; a 19th-century neo-Gothic complex which is now Celle Town Hall, previously used by 94 Locating Regiment RA. In 1992, the regiment's mission was changed to provide electronic warfare support to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and to the British elements under its command, this as a result of the formation of 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 (British ...

. Changes in the organisation of the British Army caused the regiment to move its headquarters and two of its three field squadrons (226 and 245 Signal Squadrons) to

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a populat ...

, in April 1993. The third field squadron, 237 Signal Squadron (Electronic Warfare), moved to

Hullavington Hullavington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, just to the north of the M4 motorway. The village lies about southwest of Malmesbury and north of Chippenham. The Fosse Way, a Roman road, forms the western boundary of the par ...

, England at the same time. In December 1995, the German-based elements moved again, to Cawdor Barracks near

, Pembrokeshire, and 237 Signal Squadron joined them six months later after an operational deployment to

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. As a result of the requirement to provide five deployable squadrons to support operations in Afghanistan (

Operation Herrick Operation Herrick was the codename under which all British operations in the War in Afghanistan were conducted from 2002 to the end of combat operations in 2014. It consisted of the British contribution to the NATO-led International Security A ...

), 224 Signal Squadron was formed on 21 June 2004 as a joint services unit, composed mostly of personnel from the Royal Corps of Signals, Intelligence Corps and the RAF. The Squadron was based at

RAF Digby Royal Air Force Digby otherwise known as RAF Digby is a Royal Air Force station located near Scopwick and south east of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, England. The station is home to the tri-service Joint Service Signals Organisation, part of the Joi ...

in Lincolnshire until it was disbanded in 2009. Under the Army 2020 Refine programme, it was announced the regiment would shift to a new location; however, its future barracks is yet to be determined. 14th Signal Regiment has moved its Cyber Protection Teams 1-6 to

13th Signal Regiment In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave ...

's 224 Signal Squadron.

Current organisation

The current organisation of the regiment is (with roles): * Regimental Headquarters, at Cawdor Barracks, Brawdy * 223 Signal Squadron (Electronic Warfare and Signals Intelligence, supports 3rd (UK) Division) ** Army Element, Joint Signals Intelligence Unit (Troop sized), at

* 226 Signal Squadron (Airborne and Light Manoeuvre Electronic Warfare Forces, under operational command of

16 Air Assault Brigade 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, from 1999 to 2021 16 Air Assault Brigade, is a formation of the British Army based in Colchester in the county of Essex. It is the Army's rapid response airborne formation and is the only brigade in the Britis ...

) * 237 Signal Squadron (Armoured Manoeuvre Electronic Warfare forces to 12 and 20 Armoured Infantry Bdes) * 245 Signal Squadron (Strike Electronic Warfare forces and cyber warfare for Strike Brigade and Strike Experimentation Group)

Operations

Heraldry & ceremonial

The existing regimental badge was introduced on 28 May 1982. It consists of a shield with a white horse and a bolt of lightning and replaced the coat of arms of Gloucester.

Honours

Freedom of Entry The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

into

on 28 April 1966. *Freedom of

on 10 July 1987. *Freedom of

St Davids St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

on 12 May 1997. *Freedom of

on 10 February 2009.

Alliances

*: Y Squadron, Royal Navy *:

7th Signal Regiment (Australia) The 7th Signal Regiment is an Australian Army signals intelligence (SIGINT) unit. Drawing lineage from the Australian Special Wireless Group (ASWG), which was raised during World War II, the regiment's history includes service in the Allied campai ...

21 Electronic Warfare Regiment 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment (french: 21e Régiment de guerre électronique) is a Communications and Electronics Branch regiment in the Canadian Army, based in Kingston, Ontario. 21 EW Regt exists to provide trained army electronic warfare opera ...

*: 102 Electronic Warfare Company *: 320th Fernmelde Regiment *: 54e Régiment de Transmissions *:

66th Military Intelligence Brigade The 66th Military Intelligence Brigade ("Six-Six-M-I" and 66th MIB) is a United States Army brigade, subordinate to United States Army Intelligence and Security Command and based at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden, Germany. After years of hist ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

14 Sig Regt (EW)
Regiments of the Royal Corps of Signals Electronic warfare units and formations Military units and formations established in 1977 1977 establishments in the United Kingdom