wireTHE October 2009 The Royal Corps of Signals THE WIRE, OCTOBER 2009 THE ELIZABETH CROSS AND MEMORIAL SCROLL INTRODUCTION The Elizabeth Cross and Memorial Scroll has been approved by Her Majesty The Queen as a new national award for the families of those who die on operations, or as a result of terrorism, in recognition of their tragic loss and sacrifice. The Elizabeth Cross is made of hallmarked silver and is in the form of a cross with a laurel wreath passing between the arms. The arms of the cross bear floral symbols representing England (Rose), Scotland (Thistle), Ireland (Shamrock) and Wales (Daffodil). The centre of the Cross bears the crowned Cipher of Her Majesty The Queen. The reverse of the Cross will be engraved with the name of the Service person in whose memory it is granted. A miniature version of the Elizabeth Cross will also be granted. Both will be presented in a black leather style presentation box with the Royal Cipher on the lid and the Royal Coat of Arms on the inner silk lining. The Memorial Scroll is on parchment style paper, headed with the Royal Coat of Arms and the following words: “This Scroll Commemorates …..... who gave his/her life fo rQueen and Country on…...” The Scroll will bear the signature of Her Majesty The Queen in the upper left hand corner. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA The Elizabeth Cross and Memorial Scroll will be presented to the Next of Kin (NOK) of Armed Forces personnel who were serving or former members of the Regular and Reserve Armed Forces or the Royal Fleet Auxiliary when deployed in direct support of a designated operation and who died in the following circumstances: 1. Those who died from whatever cause whilst serving on a medal earning operation. 2. Medal earning operations are those in which deployed personnel received a Campaign Medal, General Service Medal or Operational Service Medal which demonstrated the risk and rigour involved. Operations where a UN, NATO or other international body or other nations’ campaign medal was accepted for wear, in the absence of a UK medal, also qualify. 3. Those who died as a result of an act of terrorism where the available evidence suggests that the Service person, whether on or off duty, was targeted because of his or her membership of the UK Armed Forces. 4. Those who died on a non-medal earning operational task where death has been caused by the inherent high risk of the task. 5. Those who died a subsequent and premature death as a result of an injury or illness attributed to the circumstances outlined above. Deaths that occurred after 1 January 1948, or as a result of service in Palestine since 27 September 1945 will be recognised retrospectively. These dates reflect the fact that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission attributed deaths up to 1 January 1948 to World War II service (with the exception of Palestine). APPLICATIONS – WE NEED YOUR HELP The MOD Medal Office (MODMO) will attempt to contact the eligible NOK of all those known to qualify since 1 January 2000. For deaths in the period 1 January 1948 to 31 December 1999 the MODMO will not be attempting to contact the NOK. RHQ Royal Signals will make every effort to contact the NOK of all those in the Corps who we consider meet the eligibility criteria however we may not have up to date names and addresses of some NOK, particularly from the distant past. This is where we need your help. If you know of anyone who may qualify and the NOK details please contact the Regimental Secretary or Assistant Regimental Secretary whose details are on the Royal Signals Association page of The Wire. Final eligibility will be decided by MODMO. Advice on NOK eligibility and application forms can be obtained from the Regimental Secretary or Assistant Regimental Secretary or submitted online at: http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceFor/Veterans/Medals or by post to: MOD Medal Office, Building 250, Imjin Barracks, Gloucester, GL3 1HW. Anyone applying directly is asked to keep RHQ Royal Signals informed. PRESENTATION The Elizabeth Cross and Memorial Scroll will be presented at an appropriate event under Army arrangements unless the NOK chooses to receive the award by recorded delivery post. All distant past applicants from overseas will receive their award by post. HONOURS AND AWARDS We congratulate the following who received an Award In the Armed Forces Operations Awards List in September 2009 For Service in National Operations Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service (QCVS) Cpl SD Wilson 1 (RBY) Signal Squadron (SC) (V) B HE WIRE, FEBRUARY 2008 October 2009 Vol. 63 No: 5 The Magazine of the Royal Corps of Signals Established in 1920 The Wire Editor Lt Col (Retd) Alan Wallace Published bi-monthly Tel: 01258 485249 Annual subscription £12.00 plus postage Editor: Lt Col (Retd) Alan Wallace Deputy Editor: Mrs Amy Petersen Deputy Editor All correspondence and material for publication in The Wire should be addressed to: Mrs Amy Petersen Tel: 01258 485248 The Wire, RHQ Royal Signals, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8RH Email: [email protected] Welfare Contributors Deadline for The Wire : 15th February for publication in the April. Mrs Linda Sizeland 15th April for publication in the June. Tel: 01258 482089 15th June for publication in the August. 15th August for publication in the October. 15th October for publication in the December. 10th December for publication in the February. Accounts / Subscriptions Please refer to Guidelines for Contributors: http://www.army.mod.uk/signals/heritage/1311.aspx Mrs Sharon Sterne Subscribers Tel: 01258 482087 All enquiries regarding subscriptions and changes of address of The Wire should be made to: 01258 482087 or 94371 2087 (mil) or [email protected]. Remittances should be made payable to Royal Signals Benevolent Fund EDITORIAL CONTENTS Page As advised in the last edition, the Wire Office has now moved to Information 2 the ground floor of Armstrong Building in Blandford Camp. Our Movements 4 new telephone numbers are now active and should be used with immediate effect: Retirements 5 The Editor 01258 485249 News from Blandford 6 The Deputy Editor 01258 485248 News from Regiments 9 Our E mail addresses have not been changed by the move of the News from Squadrons 61 office. Other Units 73 The quantity of material submitted for this edition exceeded the Sport 79 maximum size of the magazine by a significant margin. As a result, I have had to be zealous and make some some major cuts The Royal Signals Association 86 in the material submitted. Unfortunately this has also meant that some good photographs have also been removed. I apologise to Donations 87 those whose hard work has not made it to the final proofs but do Last Post 91 not be deterred - keep sending articles and photographs to me. Obituaries 92 As Christmas approaches, readers may wish to know that the Royal Signals Shop in the Corps Museum is now open and Lost Communications 93 available for E-commerce on line at: Reunions 93 www.royalsignalsshop.com Miscellaneous Stories 94 The site offers the opportunity to buy books, children’s gifts, Corps items, crystal glass, jewellery, pewter, prints, silverware, Correspondence 95 statuettes and wall plaques. Advertisements 96 FRONT COVER Maj Gen (Retd) David McDowall CBE marked the end of his 36 years of military service on 14 August by piping as the Lone Piper above Edinburgh Castle Esplanade at this year’s Tattoo. Authors alone are responsible for the content of their articles. The opinions expressed in the articles of this publication are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Royal Corps of Signals or the Ministry of Defence. All articles and submissions are published at the discretion of the Editor. This publication may contain official information. It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. Printed by Holbrook Printers Ltd, Norway Road, Hilsea, Portsmouth © Crown Copyright INFORMATION THE END OF PTARMIGAN FAREWELL TO PTARMIGAN DTG:221200Z MONTH:JULY YEAR:2009 FROM:22 SIGNAL REGIMENT STAFFORD TO:HQ SOINC(A) BLANDFORD HQ SOINC(A) FAO: SOINC(A), HQ 1 SIGBDE FAO COMD, HQLF FAO D CBM. 22 SIGNAL REGIMENT IS NOW COMPLETING OUR FINAL TASKING WITH PTARMIGAN THROUGH 222 SIGNAL SQUADRON SUPPORTING 11 LIGHT BRIGADE’S PRE-DEPLOYMENT MRX FOR OP HERRICK. AS EVER, THE CAPABILITY PROVIDED BY PTARMIGAN WAS ROBUST AND AT NO TIME DID ANY USER EXPERIENCE A SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF COMMUNICATIONS. AFTER 25 YEARS OF STERLING SERVICE, INCLUDING TWO GULF WARS, DEPLOYMENTS TO THE BALKANS AND EXTENSIVE EXERCISES IN THE UK AND GERMANY SUPPORTING CORPS, DIVISIONAL, BRIGADE AND BATTLEGROUP HEADQUARTERES, PTARMIGAN HAS NOW REACHED THE END OF ITS USEFUL LIFE AND WILL BE TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE. 22 SIGNAL REGIMENT FORMED IOC IN APR 07 AND REACHED FOC AS A GS REGIMENT, LARGELY PTARMIGAN EQUIPPED IN DEC 07, BEFORE RE-ROLLING FOR OP HERRICK WHILST MAINTAINING 248 GURKHA SIGSQN AS A PTARMIGAN SQUADRON IN THE UK. 222 SIGSQN ARE NOW COMPLETING THE FINAL PTARMIGAN TRAINING SUPPORT TASK AND FITTINGLY, ENABLED BY ELEMENTS OF 217 SIGSQN IN THE FALCOM INTRODUCTION TEAM, WILL BE THE LEAD FALCON SQUADRON FOR THE CORPS – TAKING ONE SYSTEM OUT OF SERVICE AND BRINGING ANOTHER SYSTEM INTO SERVICE IN THE COMING YEAR. TO FORMALLY MARK THE END OF PTARMIGAN WHICH HAS BEEN AT THE HEART OF OUR CORPS CAPABILITY FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS, OFFICER COMMANDING 222 SIGNAL SQUADRON, MAJOR IAN RODGER, ON BEHALF OF THE COMMANDING OFFICER 22 SIGNAL REGIMENT, COLONEL NEIL FISHER, REQUESTS THE SIGNAL OFFICER IN CHIEF (ARMY)’S PERMISSION TO CLOSE DOWN THE LAST EVER PTARMIGAN NETWORK.