47th (London) Signal Regiment
47 (London) Signal Regiment was a Territorial Army (TA) unit of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals. It had its origins in an engineer company and a cyclist battalion of the former Territorial Force that were amalgamated in 1920. It provided corps signal units during and after World War II. Following a series of postwar mergers Its successors continue in the Army Reserve today. Origin When the Royal Corps of Signals (RCS) was created in 1920 the 47th (2nd London) Divisional Signals was formed in the Territorial Army (TA). It combined the former 47th (2nd London) Signal Company of the Royal Engineers (RE) with the 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion of the London Regiment. Signal Company When the old Volunteer Force was subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF) after the Haldane reforms in 1908, the 1st Middlesex Royal Engineers (Volunteers) provided the RE components of the TF's 2nd London Division, including the 2nd London Divisional Telegraph Company, RE, with the following organisation: Company HQ at Duke of York's Headquarters, Chelsea No 1 Section, Duke of York's Headquarters No 2 (4th London) Section No 3 (5th London) Section No 4 (6th London) Section Nos 2–4 Sections were attached to and largely manned by the 4th–6th infantry brigades of the division. The company (termed a signal company from 1910) served with 47th (1/2nd London) Division on the Western Front during World War I and spun off a 2nd Line unit for 60th (2/2nd London) Division, which served in Salonika and Palestine. Cyclist Battalion The first Bicycle infantry in the British Army were the 26th Middlesex (Cyclist) Volunteer Corps, formed on 1 April 1888 by a group of enthusiastic cyclists. On the formation of the TF it became 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion of the London Regiment. It served in coast defence during the early part of World War I, but in February 1916 it sailed for India, leaving its 2nd Line battalion to continue the coast defence duties. In 1917 the battalion joined the Waziristan Field Force as infantry and took part in the Waziristan Campaign of that year. In April 1919 it was on security duty at Amritsar at the time of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, then from May to August took part in the Third Afghan War, including the Relief of Thall, before finally being demobilised almost a year after the end of World War I. Interwar In 1920 the RE Signal Service became the independent Royal Corps of Signals (RCS). 47th (2nd London) Signal Company merged with the 25th (County of London) Cyclist Battalion, and the combined 47th (2nd London) Divisional Signals established its HQ at the Cyclists' drill hall at Fulham House in Fulham. It also administered a number of other TA and Supplementary Reserve (SR) signal units based at Fulham House: 204th Medium Artillery Signal Section (TA) No 22 (London) Cable Section (SR) No 25 (London) Construction Section (SR) No 1 (London) Air Wing Signal Section (SR) No 10 (London) Air Squadron Signal Section