Readers can now get this newsletter in two ways, either by collection (Downloading a pdf version for off-line reading/printing) from the newsletter distribution service, and from same they will get regular notification of the availability in same by a brief e-mail, or now thanks to the efforts of Keith Drummond this newsletter has also been made available on-line within the main RSO site. Which also resulted in a major redesign of the RSO site being necessary to accommodate full width representation on all pages, and easier navigation via drop-down menus.
IMPORTANT! The newsletter distribution service (a Yahoo group) has had to be sacrificed for normal discussion use, it can be subscribed to under Royal Signals Yahoo Group
The on-line version can be found in the RSO site in the newly created Newsletter Archive under… RSO Archive, a new newsletter only yahoo group will be made shortly.
We will need your participation submissions and feedback, so please send us your stories, concerns and wishes, and please recommend us to your friends and enemies.
SUDDEN and UNEXPECTED: Deletion of the "Main" Yahoo Royal Signals Group
The Alternative Yahoo and MSN Groups which are available and picking up survivors
Darran's Observations and appeal for active Group Participation to ensure existence.
RSO Site News: Changes and Improvements to the RSO site layout and Content, and the integration of the Air Formation Signals / Air Support Signals Website.
"(Signal-)Men Singing Badly!" or The Lyrics to the Song "Quartermaster's Stores"
Cliff Lord's History Column, This Month the Hellenic (Greek) Army Signals Corps
Plus our regular details of Reunions, History sites and Seeking Help, People, etc.
I want to say thank you to our readers and our contributors, also in the name of Brian Streetly and Keith Drummond
Mrs. Petra Henderson
(Royal Signals 1971-1976)
Although anything "Unexpected" is always "Sudden" and therefore "Unexpected" alone might also suffice to describe the news, the event that took place last night and threw my almost finished newsletter into chaos, as well as demanding my time to completely reconfigure the news-distribution yahoo group to become a new discussion group, was for me Sudden and Unexpected!
"Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!" so "Bring in… (Dramatic pause) …the Comfy chair!!!"
Anyone who has been familiar with the Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/royalsignals/ set up by John Hopkins (with over a thousand members and many years of post and collective memories of the membership) will have been horrified to see it was unexpectedly deleted at about 19:00 Hrs Z last night…
Brian Streetly (who is a co-founder and Moderator) of the sunk group, does not know what happened, so as an emergency fix, I have taken the group originally intended for reporting new datasheets and newsletters, and converted it into a "lifeboat" to pick up survivors.
Anyone who wants to Join the Managed ("Members only" and "Spam free") group, should visit it under this address… http://groups.yahoo.com/group/royal-signals/
The Group is Moderated by Brian, Keith, Darran and myself (Petra).
The group also contains hot (clickable) links to several other MSN and Yahoo groups on the front page, and so is a good navigation tool to bookmark and use to jump off to these other groups…
For example from it you can jump to the Herford Royal Signals Group, the Cymru Royal Signals Group, the Cardiff and Wales MSN group, the Royal Signals Club MSN group, the Yahoo Royal Signals History Discussion group, and the Women's Royal Army Corps MSN group.
Anyone who wants to join the Royal Signals History group, should visit it under this address… http://groups.yahoo.com/group/royal-signals-history/ The Group is Moderated by Cliff Lord, Keith Drummond and myself (Petra).
Herforder Group address… http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hf-r-sigs/
Cymru Royal Signals Group address… http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cymru_royalsignals/
Darran's Royal Signals MSN Group address… http://groups.msn.com/royalsignalsclub/
Darran's Cardiff Royal Signals MSN Group address… http://groups.msn.com/cardiffroyalsignalsclub/
And for the WRAC's the Women's Royal Army Corps
MSN Group addresshttp://groups.msn.com/wracwomensroyalarmycorp/
Darran wrote the following, and I repost it here as a reminder of what we have to do to stop more groups and clubs closing…
Ok people, it looks like the Yahoo Signal group has had the plug pulled on it and nobody seems to know why. Also I've just found out the a MSN signals site, Royal Sigs comrades is also to close it's doors this weekend,(30th of August) the reason for the last site closing has been given as "a lack of interest", whether this is also the case for the Yahoo Signal group I don't know at this time. Now you might ask "what's this got to do with me", well it's the old adage of "use it or lose it," these site's have collapsed because of indifference, either by the Member's or the Manger's (and believe me it can be a thankless task). Now you might ask "what can I do", well the answer to that is simple, use the site's that you a member of. Join in the threads or if there is no threads of interest, start your own, you will find members are very willing to help out on just about any matter there is, Even people reminiscing about days gone by (the when I was at ??? sort of posts) can be very illuminating, such tales should be preserved and sites such as these help in that regard. Please also try and greet new members when they join a site, after all there's nothing worse than joining a site and being met with a wall of indifference.
Thank you Darran, and welcome to the Lifeboat ("royal-signals" Group) as a Moderator.
Keith Drummond has been very busy lately. He has made significant changes to the RSO website that make the navigation a lot easier as well as adding new features and pages.
These changes are in short;
A new Pull down Navigation Menu
A new Guestbook
Modifications to the "Plain Text to Morse Code" Generator
Added links and pages for the Air Formation Signals
Brian's memorial Project "Last Post" pages added.
Keith has added a new menu along the top of each page, which contains drop-downs that allow anyone to go to any other area without having to return to the site menu navigation page.
The centre section is exclusively to do with the Members area, and allows new members to sign-up, all members to log in, search and/or add updated posting data, change their passwords, request lost ones, etc.
The left side takes you to newsletters, datasheets, etc. on the Right we have "links" (which is German for "left" and really does show the reason the UK drives on the wrong side of the road…) which give links to many different on-line resources and websites…
Then a menu for the various RSA sites, and other RSO site stuff such as the Photos section, etc.
And on the extreme right a Direct link to the new Air Formation Signals website and Members Organisation run by David Vickers, with as said a Guestbook similar to the RSO one, and also a postings and friend search data bank.
Keith modified the Morse code Generator so that it is no longer necessary to put a space between each typed letter. He also added Numerals.
Keith has been working together with David Vickers to put the Air Formation Website into the RSO server, share tools and facilities, and present space for the numerous history pages David has on the AFS and ASS (Air Support Signals). http://www.airformationsignals.royal-signals.org.uk/index.htm
In the AFS area, there is also a Newsletter section which contains news from Iraq and Kuwait about current serving AFS/ASS personnel http://www.airformationsignals.royal-signals.org.uk/newsletter/21sigskuwait.htm
A big Thanks to Keith and David for their recent overtime.
Brian Streetly's "Last Post" page is up and running… Do you know of any one who served in the Corps no matter when or what rank or for how long, who you would like to see there details added that is so that they can be remembered ?? If so could you please send the details to Brian Please include as much detail of the person as you possibly can. I don't think that these people should be forgotten. Brian means women as well as men. Link to Last Post Page
Note: The following song is only to be sung in the back of a windy cold canvas covered Bedford Three Tonner on the way to the Ranges. Do not try this at home!
There was cheese, cheese, cheese with knobbly knees,
In the stores,
In the stores,
There was cheese, cheese, cheese with knobbly knees
In the Quartermaster's stores.Chorus : (after each verse)
My eyes are dim, I cannot see,
I have not brought my specs with me,
I have - not - brought - my - specs - with - me!There was cheese, cheese, cheese with knobbly knees.....
There was bacon, bacon, unless I was much mistaken.......
There was bread, bread, harder than your head .......
There were fleas, fleas, big as Garden peas .........
There was gravy, gravy, enough to float the navy.....
There was butter, butter, running down the gutter ....
There were eggs, eggs, eggs with hairy legs, ....
There were rats, rats, big as alley cats ........
There were mice, mice, digging in the rice ....
ANY SUGGESTIONS for more Lyric lines for above???
Hermes (Latin Mercury), the son of Zeus and Maia. Zeus appointed him the messenger of the Olympian Gods. He is most frequently depicted wearing winged shoes and a winged hat and carrying the winged staff, the symbol of his position. He is a patron of merchants and thieves.
Text and Pictures Provided by Cliff Lord Hon Historian of the Royal NZ Corps of Signals
| Official Title of Corps | Hellenic Army Signal Corps. |
| Date of Formation | 31st May 1946 |
| Corps Colour | Blue |
| Corps Emblem | Hermes (Greek name) in Laurel Leaves |
Note: The Romans called him Mercury, The Greeks called him Hermes, and we call him Jimmy!
The Hellenic Army Signal Corps traces its origin to the Army Organisation plan of 1885 which provided for the establishment of one Telegraph Company within the Engineer Corps.
The Company was assigned to the Engineer Regiment in the Hellenic Army (HA).
The Company was finally activated in 1887 and participated in the 1897 Turkish - Greek war.
In 1904 the one Telegraph Company was increased to three, each one organic to the three newly established Engineer Battalions.
In 1912, a major year in the development of the HA prior to the Balkan Wars, the three Telegraph Companies were changed to two independent Telegraph Companies and one Radio Company. As such, they participated in the two Balkan Wars in 1912 - 1913.
During the First World War, in 1917, a Telegraph Regiment (Depot/Training Centre) was established. It provided all the communications detachments, which while organic to the Engineer Units, gave communication support to the HA during the First World War, the Campaign in South Russia (1919) and the war in Asia-Minor (Turkey) 1920 - 1922.
Prior to the Second World War, the HA organization provided for one Engineer Battalion per Division. However, only one Company of these Battalions was an Engineer Company. The other two were a Telephone Company and a Radio Company which also included optical communications equipment.
Each Army Corps was limited to five or six radios, and were assigned to the Div. HQ, the Infantry Regiments and the Artillery Regiments. The equipment was Practically all of German manufacture.
It was with this organization that the HA secured communications during the Greek-Italian and German War of 1940 - 1941.
Following the occupation of Greece by the Germans in 1941, the remains of the HA escaped to the Middle East where a small force was organized., with a typical British organization.
In November 1942 the 1st Greek Brigade participated in the El Alemain Offensive.
© 2003 Cliff Lord Hon. Hist. RNZSigs
Pardon the interruption. I wonder if any of you folks could help.My dear old dad who died young (56) in 1979 served with the Royal Signals attached to the 1st Airborne from sometime in 1942 until he left the army towards the end of 1946.
His service took him from Christmas Day in the North African desert in 1941 (Christmas lunch: a slice of bread and blackcurrant jam-which he thought was a real treat),through Sicily, Italy (inc. Taranto and a drive up to see Monte Cassino on Christmas Day 1943), Arnhem, Norway (Stavanger for several months in 1945) and thence back to Egypt and Palestine (on the beach for the real "Exodus" incident, plus King David Hotel).
Dad was, like myself, a Plymothian but I live in exile in Ilford.
He was reluctant to speak about WW2 as, coming from a navy family, he kept quiet when asked on most occasions with the old navy phrase "Nuff said".
One of his mates in the army, certainly through Arnhem and after the war was a chap named Moon (don't know his first name) who was an East Londoner. Dad rather romantically met my mum as a result of Arnhem. Mum, from East Ham had gone in to the WAAF as a telephone operator and was on a course at Burford Camp in the Autumn of 1944 when she and other Waafs were asked to go to an army dance to cheer up some of the paratroopers coming back from Arnhem.
Dad was one of them (My mum said he was a bag of nerves) not surprising as he had managed to get out, although wounded in the legs by German flak on the way in.
After the 1st Airborne got back from Norway in the Autumn of 1945,Dad went to Sunday tea with his prospective mother in law in East Ham for the first time-she being even more of a dragon than Irene Handel. Dad took his mate Moon (I believe a Corporal) along for moral support.
After 3 months on short rations in Norway-the civil population was pretty well starved by the Germans-they had eaten an awful lot of tinned sardines and pilchards and were looking forward to a traditional Sunday tea.
The mother in law, to show her displeasure deliberately served them both with (yes, you've guessed it) pilchards.
Perhaps some of your members may know of this chap, whether alive or passed on.
We have very few details of my dad's army service-a photograph taken in May 1944 and captioned "E and F Sections" ( Signals Company?) and a formal "school photo" of Signals Company, 1st Airborne 1943.
Pardon my odd request. I have often thought in past years of trying to track this chap Moon very often when driving past the old Arnhem Motors in Stratford which many of your members will know.
Can anyone help??
Mike Thompson
(Mike's Postal and e-mail address known to the Editor)
His Dads name was RONALD WILLIAM THOMPSON - a with a strong Plymouth accent, 22 at the end of the war with black hair going grey already. I believe his unit commander at Arnhem was Major W.F.K."Sheriff" Thompson,. later the military correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Dad may have gone into Arnhem with the 2nd Airlanding Brigade but I am not sure.
Any Input or Contact offers via Brian Streetly Please
Ron Hamilton is seeking; information of a late relative (FEPOW)…
My name is Ron Hamilton and I live in Woodley, Cheshire, England.
My family research has unearthed the following family member, who now, sadly, is deceased:
HENRY ARCHIBALD SKILLINGTON:
SERVICE NUMBER: 2352046
RANK: SIGNALMAN-ROYAL SIGNALS
ENLISTED: 19/9/1940
DISCHARGED: 16/5/1946His granddaughter thinks that he was captured and interned in a Japanese P.O.W camp.
We would like to try and find out exactly what happened to him, where he was taken prisoner and under what circumstances, plus, to obtain his Army record.
I have already provided him with info about obtaining Official MOD Service records, and also with contacts to the Far East P.O.W. Association, International Red Cross, etc., but maybe some of our members knew a HENRY ARCHIBALD SKILLINGTON during the second world war?
If so could you also get in touch with Brian Streetly.
Thank you (also to all our content contributors) , and until till next Month.
The Website and Database Site The Distribution and Archive Site http://www.royal-signals.org.uk
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/royal-signals/ Please visit and check/update your data regularly To
Hi Petra
Thanks for stepping into the breach. I've emailed Yahoo support to try and find out what happened. It would seem that while I was away all my lists got deleted and my ID was disabled.
I'll be joining the list soon and then change my adverts from the old list to this new one.
John H www.certacito.net
