30th Signal Regiment is a regiment of the

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 ...

within the

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 ...

. The regiment is held at very high notice to move, and primarily supports

Standing Joint Force Headquarters The Standing Joint Force Headquarters (SJFHQ) is a rapidly deployable component that provides operational command and control to the Joint Expeditionary Force and the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (Anglo-French alliance) when on small and m ...

. The Commanding Officer of 30th Signal Regiment is also the Commander

Queen's Gurkha Signals The Queen's Gurkha Signals (QG SIGNALS) is a regular unit of Royal Corps of Signals, one of the combat support arms of British Army. Together with the Queen's Gurkha Engineers, the Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment, the Royal Gurkha Rifles, and ...

(QGS).

History

1951 - 5th Corps Signal Regiment 1956 - 90th Signal Regiment (Trials) 1959 - 30th Signal Regiment (Trials) 1967 - 30th Signal Regiment 30th Signal Regiment claims descent from 1st Middlesex Engineer Volunteers which became 2nd London Division Telegraph Company in 1908. In 1935, that unit became London Corps Signals TA and which evolved into V (5th) Corps Signals by 1942, only to be disbanded in 1946. To help support NATO forces in Germany, 5th Corps Signal Regiment was formed in 1951. The regiment moved to Cherry Tree Camp,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

, and was renumbered 90th Signal Regiment on 1 April 1956. It then moved to

AAC Middle Wallop Middle Wallop Flying Station is a British Army airfield located near the Hampshire village of Middle Wallop. It is the Headquarters for the Army Air Corps, and the 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team, and is also used for Army Air Corps trai ...

in November 1958. In 1959, it was redesignated 30th Signal Regiment. The regiment moved to

Blandford Camp Blandford Camp is a military base comprising some 390 hectares of downland lying 2 miles (3 km) north-east of Blandford Forum in the county of Dorset in southern England. Significant areas of the camp are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (S ...

on 21 March 1960 and absorbed 14th Signal Regiment on 1 November 1976. It remained at Blandford until the move to its present location at Gamecock Barracks, Bramcote, in November 1993. The regiment sent detachments to British Guiana, Swaziland, Zambia, Kenya, Sarawak, Cyprus, Borneo, Aden, Bahrain, Aldabara Island, Benghazi, Sharjah and Anguilla during the 1960s.

Falklands War

During the Falklands War, 30 Signal Regiment set up a communications centre at the staging post on

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

and provided Rear Link communications from most fighting units. By 1st June 1982, 5 Infantry Brigade HQ and Signal Squadron had landed at St Carlos using mainly Clansman radios. 30 Signal Regiment, with detachments from 1 Infantry Brigade and 19 Infantry Brigade Signal Squadrons, formed a unit to support the Land Forces HQ. 50 Signallers ran 15 nets on HMS Fearless which was the Main Force HQ. 30 Signal Regiment also provided satellite communications back to UK and secure telegraph for the two brigades.

Operations 1983-present

Since the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, the regiment has been involved in operations in: Operation Hyperion, Beirut, 1983–1984 Operation Prosperous, Namibia, 1989–1990 Operation Granby, Gulf, 1990–1991 Operation Pinseeker, Kuwait, 1991

Operation Haven Operation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations initiated by the United States and other Coalition nations of the Persian Gulf War, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurdish refugees fleeing their homes in northern ...

/Warden, Iraq/Turkey, 1991

Operation Hanwood Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

/Cheshire, Croatia, 1992–1993

Operation Jural Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, Saudi Arabia, 1992

Operation Grapple Operation Grapple was a set of four series of British nuclear weapons tests of early atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs carried out in 1957 and 1958 at Malden Island and Kiritimati (Christmas Island) in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands in the Pa ...

/Lodestar, Croatia/Bosnia, 1992–1995

Operation Gabriel Operation Gabriel was the codename for the British military contribution in Rwanda as part of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda UNAMIR during the Rwandan genocide. British soldiers were deployed to Rwanda as part of a wider peacekeeping force t ...

, Rwanda, 1994 Operation Chantress, Angola, 1995 Operation Purposeful, Uganda, 1996 Operation Determinant, Zaire, 1997

Operation Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider ...

, Kuwait, 1998

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

, Iraq

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 Assi ...

, Afghanistan In 2023, 256 and 258 Signal Squadrons deployed on Operation Polar Bear to No. 12

Downing Street Downing Street is a gated street in City of Westminster, Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a cul-de-sac situated off Whiteh ...

( Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office), Cyprus, and Sudan to deliver a variety of support to enable command & control for a number of headquarters and deployed elements, which allowed an evacuation of 4387 people from Sudan during the

War in Sudan (2023) The term Sudanese Civil War refers to at least three separate conflicts in Sudan in Northeast Africa: *First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) *Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) *Sudanese civil war (2023–present) It could also refer to other ...

Role

The regiment is part of 1st Signal Brigade, within the British-led NATO

Allied Rapid Reaction Corps The Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) is a rapid reaction force maintained by NATO. It is capable of deploying a High Readiness Force (Land) Headquarters at short notice for operations and crisis response. History The ARRC was created on 1 ...

. The British Army describes the regiment as being "responsible for enabling PJHQ's deployable Joint Force Headquarters and supporting other High Readiness Formations such as the Very High Readiness Field Hospital, the Air Assault Task Force and

Joint Aviation Command The Joint Aviation Command (JAC), previously known as Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), is a tri-service organisation uniting battlefield military helicopters of all three services of the British Armed Forces and unmanned aerial vehicles of the B ...

The regiment consists of

Source: * 244 Signal Squadron (Air Support) * 250 Gurkha Signal Squadron * 256 Signal Squadron * 258 Signal Squadron * Support Squadron

Freedoms and Affiliations

The regiment has a long association with The Worshipful Company of Dyers dating back to 1960. The regiment has been granted the Freedom of

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...

, the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth and the Island of

Alderney Alderney ( ; ; ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependencies, Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest isla ...

References

{{reflist Regiments of the Royal Corps of Signals Military units and formations established in 1959