39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment | |
---|---|
Active | 1967 – present |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Royal Corps of Signals |
Size | Regiment of 385 personnel [1] |
Part of | 1st Signal Brigade |
RHQ location | Bristol |
Nickname(s) | "The Skinners" |
Reporting designation | 39 Sig Reg |
Insignia | |
Tactical Recognition Flash |
39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 1 Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations. The Lynx badge is a reminder of the unit's connection with the Worshipful Company of Skinners.
The regiment was formed in 1967 by the amalgamation of 65th Signal Regiment and 92nd Signal Regiment, with some personnel from the disbanded Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars at Banbury. [2] [3] In 1969 the regiment absorbed part of R (Tower Hamlets) Battery from the disbanded Greater London Regiment, Royal Artillery. [4]
In 1971 a new 5 (Banbury) Squadron was formed, which in 1975 became 5 (Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars) Signal Squadron. [2] [5] [6] [7]
47 (Middlesex Yeomanry) Signal Squadron at Uxbridge formed part of the regiment from 1995 to 2006, when it transferred to 71st (City of London) Yeomanry Signal Regiment. [8] [9]
In 2000, the North Somerset Yeomanry designation was revived for the Headquarters Squadron of 39th (Skinners) Signal Regiment [10] and, in 2008, that squadron, as 93 (North Somerset Yeomanry) Squadron, became the Regiment's Support Squadron. [11]
In 2006, 94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Squadron transferred from 31st (City of London) Signal Regiment. [12]
In 2014, under Army 2020, 43 (Wessex and City & County of Bristol) Signal Squadron transferred from 21st Signal Regiment and 53 (Welsh) Signal Squadron transferred from 37th Signal Regiment, while 5 (QOOH) Squadron transferred to the Royal Logistic Corps. [13]
The current structure of the regiment is as follows: [14] [15]
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles.
A stable belt is a striped coloured belt worn at times by the armed forces of the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries, and a few other countries including Denmark, Brazil and Lebanon. The stripes vary by regiment and corps, identifying the wearer's unit. In Brazil and Lebanon they are known as gymnastic belts.
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War.
The Royal Yeomanry (RY) is the senior reserve light cavalry regiment of the British Army. Equipped with Supacat Jackal variants, their role is to conduct mounted and dismounted formation reconnaissance. The Regimental Headquarters is located in Leicester, with squadrons in Fulham, Nottingham, Dudley, Croydon, Telford, and Leicester. The regiment is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is only reserve cavalry regiment to resubordinate into regular brigade as part of the Future Soldier Programme, which in turn arose from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021.
The Royal Wessex Yeomanry is a reserve armoured regiment of the British Army Reserve consisting of five squadrons. Formerly part of 43 (Wessex) Brigade, the regiment joined 3rd (UK) Division in July 2014, to provide armoured resilience to the three armoured regiments within the Reaction Force. In 2015 the regiment was moved from the operational command of 3rd (UK) Division to 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade, and later to 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, but members of the regiment still wear the 3rd (UK) Division formation badge to reflect their role in supporting the three armoured regiments in the division.
The 43rd Infantry Brigade was a brigade of the British Army during the First and Second World Wars, and later, as 43 (Wessex) Brigade, a regional headquarters from 1985 to 2014.
The Queen's Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry (QOWWY) was a regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, forming part of the Territorial Army (TA). Following reductions in 1969 and 1971 respectively the regiment was reduced to two and later one company sized sub-unit in 1999. Following a reorganisation in 2021, there are now two successors to the regiment: one squadron in the Royal Yeomanry as light cavalry, and one squadron in the 37th Signal Regiment as a support squadron.
The 2nd Signal Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army composed of Royal Corps of Signals units. The brigade was first formed following the reorganisation of the old Territorial Army in 1967, and was disbanded in 2012 under the Army 2020 programme. However, later the 2nd Signal Group was formed continuing the lineage of the old brigade, before it was disbanded in 2018.
The Berkshire Yeomanry was a part time regiment of the British Army formed in 1794 to counter the threat of invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was the Royal County of Berkshire's senior volunteer unit with over 200 years of voluntary military service. After taking part in the Second Boer War, it saw action as mounted troops in the First World War and as artillery in the Second World War. Its lineage is maintained by 94 Signal Squadron, part of 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment. The Headquarters of the Squadron is based in Windsor, Berkshire. The Berkshire Yeomanry had a number of battle honours won from Europe to the Far East and Private Frederick Potts was awarded a Victoria Cross for service during the Gallipoli Campaign.
36 (Eastern) Signal Regiment was a Territorial Army (TA) signal unit of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals (RCS). The regiment was formed following the formation of the TAVR in 1967, and was disbanded in 2009 following a reorganisation in the RCS. Though not disbanded, the regiment continues its lineage as a squadron, with its own former squadrons forming troops within said squadron.
71st Yeomanry Signal Regiment is an Army Reserve regiment in the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army. The regiment forms part of 11th Signal Brigade, providing military communications for national operations.
The 31st Signal Regiment was a territorial communications regiment of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals. The regiment first formed following the creation of the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve in 1967 after the 1966 Defence White Paper. After seeing limited reserve support during the Cold War, the regiment was disbanded in 2010 following the initial Army 2020 reform.
37th Signal Regiment is a military communications regiment of the Royal Corps of Signals, part of the British Army. The regiment was one of ten Territorial Army,, units formed following the complete reorganisation of the Territorial Army in 1967. Until the Army 2020 programme in 2012, the regiment provided national communications support and its squadrons providing support to the regional brigades, notable 143rd and 160th (Welsh) Brigades. However, from 2014 the regiment was re-roled and now paired with 2nd Signal Regiment supporting 1st Division.
The Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars (QOOH) was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army's auxiliary forces, formed in 1798. It saw service in the Second Boer War with 40 and 59 Companies of the Imperial Yeomanry and was the first Yeomanry regiment to serve in Belgium and France during the Great War. After almost four years of Trench warfare on the Western Front, where cavalry had been superfluous, the QOOH led the advance during the Allies' victorious Hundred Days Offensive in 1918. In 1922, the QOOHt became part of the Royal Artillery and during World War II it served as anti-tank gunners at Singapore and in North West Europe. After a series of postwar mergers and changes of role, the regiment's lineage is maintained by 142 Vehicle Squadron, Royal Logistic Corps.
The North Somerset Yeomanry was a part-time cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1798 to 1967. It maintained order in Somerset in the days before organised police forces, and supplied volunteers to fight in the Second Boer War. It served on the Western Front in the First World War. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it continued to operate in the mounted role and then as a specialist signals unit. Postwar it joined the Royal Armoured Corps and later became infantry. Its lineage today is maintained by 93 Squadron 39 (Skinners) Signal Regiment.
The Hampshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry cavalry regiment formed by amalgamating older units raised between 1794 and 1803 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It served in a mounted role in the Second Boer War and World War I, and in the air defence role during and after World War II. The lineage is continued by 295 Battery and 457 Battery, batteries of 106 (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery, part of the Army Reserve.
The British yeomanry during the First World War were part of the British Army reserve Territorial Force. Initially, in 1914, there were fifty-seven regiments and fourteen mounted brigades. Soon after the declaration of war, second and third line regiments were formed. However, the third line regiments were soon absorbed into the Cavalry Reserve Regiments, to supply replacements for the cavalry and yeomanry. Other horsed regiments in the British Army, during the war, were the regular cavalry regiments and the three regiments belonging to the special reserve: the North Irish Horse, the South Irish Horse and the King Edward's Horse. The senior yeomanry regiments could trace their origins back over 100 years; the oldest regiment, the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry, had been formed in 1794. The most junior regiment, the Welsh Horse, had only been formed on 18 August 1914, after the start of the war.