GHQ Liaison Regiment (known as Phantom) was a

special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) or Recon Team is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units or military intelligence organizations, who operate behind enemy lines, avoiding direct combat and detec ...

unit 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 Gurkha ...

first formed in 1939 during the early stages of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The regiment's headquarters were at The Richmond Hill Hotel in

Richmond, Surrey Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Comm ...

(now in London); its base (including the

officers' mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

and

billet A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier. Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...

) was at

Pembroke Lodge Pembroke Lodge is an initial, mainstream category listed (Grade II) Georgian two-storey large house in Richmond Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It sits on high ground with views across the Thames valley to Windsor, the Ch ...

, a Georgian house in

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

History

It had its origins as the

No 3 British Air Mission No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed � ...

in France in 1939. Moving with the Belgian General Staff, its role was to report back information about the Allied forward positions from Belgian GHQ to the Advanced Air Striking Force HQ so as to pinpoint the changing locations of "bomb lines". These were the battle areas not occupied by Allied troops, and therefore suitable targets for bombs and shells. In November 1939, Lieut-Col George Frederick ‘Hoppy’ Hopkinson was sent as a military observer to the No 3 British Air Mission and subsequently changed the method of operations to focus upon greater use of wireless communications and mobility to provide real-time assessment from the front line. The collective codename for these missions was classified by themselves as ‘Phantom’, which later became an official designation. After the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

, the unit was re-formed as No 1 GHQ Reconnaissance Unit. As such, it was intended to have a key intelligence role following any Nazi invasion of Britain. In January 1941, the

Reconnaissance Corps The Reconnaissance Corps, or simply Recce Corps, was a corps of the British Army, formed during the Second World War whose units provided reconnaissance for infantry divisions. It was formed from infantry brigade reconnaissance groups on 14 Janu ...

was established and Phantom was reclassified as GHQ Liaison Regiment to avoid confusion. Phantom recruited men with various skill-sets – linguists, drivers and mechanics – and undertook rigorous training in wireless communication and cipher. In January 1944, the Reconnaissance Corps was absorbed into the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the ...

and with it the Phantom GHQ Liaison Regiment. Phantom was disbanded in 1945; however it was reborn as the Army Phantom Signals Regiment (

Princess Louise's Kensington Regiment The Kensington Regiment (Princess Louise's) is a unit of the British Army, which originated in the Volunteer Rifle Corps' movement of the 1850s. In 1908 it became a battalion of the London Regiment in the Territorial Force. It was an infantry re ...

) until 1960, when it was clear that technology provided for alternative solutions.

Operation Overlord

During

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, in June 1944, many patrols from Phantom came to

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

on D+1. Their task was to go around day and night to find all the British, Canadian and American units they could, marking their locations on a map, and passing the information to the main HQ.

Operation Market Garden

During

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

, in September 1944, the only communication between the surrounded airborne troops at

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

and headquarters was via a Phantom patrol. This included the famous, desperate, message from General Urquhart that “... unless physical contact is made with us early 25 Sept...consider it unlikely we can hold out long enough ...” Two Phantom officers were subsequently awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

for maintaining these vital communications during the operation. Phantom units also operated with XXX Corps and with General Browning whose HQ was next to 82nd Airborne HQ in

Groesbeek Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, when ...

Organisation

Phantom deployed in squadrons in North West Europe, South East Europe, North Africa and Italy. Each squadron supported an Army and consisted of a squadron HQ (SHQ) and a number of patrols (one per Corps and a further ten further forward of Corps). Each patrol consisted of an officer, an NCO and up to 9 other ranks. They were typically equipped with

Norton motorcycles The Norton Motorcycle Company (formerly Norton Motors, Ltd.) is a brand of motorcycles, originally based in Birmingham, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers. From ...

, Jeeps, Morris 15cwt trucks and White M3 A1 Scout cars and carried a 107 Receiver, 52 and 22 sets. The patrols either embedded with other formations or went on specially-directed missions from their individual Army HQs. The patrols' role was to provide collection, passage and dissemination of real-time information on the progress of battle back to Corps HQ. For

, one patrol was assigned to each Divisional HQ of 1 and 30 Corps to land with Main Divisional HQ. Thus on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, three Patrols (5, 8 & 14) landed with 3rd BR, 50th Northumbrian and

3rd Canadian Division The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from t ...

s. Some patrols undertook parachute drops with the SAS to provide communications with SAS Brigade HQ. Later, with Phantom efficiency proven and with US forces under the leadership of 12 US Army Group, similar arrangements were made for Phantom to provide communications with US Corps.

Officers

Famous Phantom officers included: actors Major

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

(who initially commanded A Squadron and who remarked in a letter, "these were wonderful days which I would not have missed for anything"), Tam Williams and

Willoughby Gray John Willoughby Gray MBE (5 November 1916 – 13 February 1993) was an English actor of stage and screen. Early life Willoughby Gray was born in London to his mother, Mary Henderson; his father, John Gray, was killed in action in Iraq soon af ...

; MPs Sir Jakie Astor, The Hon. Michael Astor, Peter Baker, Sir Hugh Fraser, Maurice Macmillan (Viscount Macmillan), Sir

Carol Mather Sir David Carol MacDonnell Mather (3 January 19193 July 2006) was a British soldier and politician. After serving 22 years in the British Army, he was the Member of Parliament for Esher from 1970 until 1987. During his political career he he ...

and

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

(Lord Mayhew); Law Lord

Nigel Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich Nigel Cyprian Bridge, Baron Bridge of Harwich, PC (26 February 1917 − 20 November 2007) was a British judge, who served as Lord of Appeal in Ordinary between 1980 and 1992. A leading appellate judge, Bridge is also remembered for having presi ...

; journalist Sir Peregrine Worsthorne; and

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Commissioner Sir Robert Mark. Others, such as

Michael Oakeshott Michael Joseph Oakeshott FBA (; 11 December 1901 – 19 December 1990) was an English philosopher and political theorist who wrote about philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of ...

and John Hislop, excelled in the fields of academia or athletics.

References

External links

''The Foundation of "Phantom"'', Royal Signals contact site

Spear, Roger: "Phantom, The Signals Regiment in Richmond Park", ''The VMARS Newsletter'', issue 37
{{Authority control Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine Battle of France British Army in World War II History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Military units and formations in London Operation Market Garden Regiments of the British Army in World War II Richmond Park Special forces of the United Kingdom