| Vol.3.No.3. November 1962 |
| THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL SIGNALS. |
| Signalling has been going on in its various forms ever since the world began. Pigeons, beacons, fires, and many other ways of communication were used before the wireless was invented. |
| It was not until 1912 that the Army first thought of having specially trained men to do the job of signalling. These men were called the Signal Organisation, and after the first radio, had been invented they were renamed the Signal Corps. A few years later they were honoured with the title the Royal Corps of Signals by George VI. |
| After the First World War, there was a great improvement in long distance communications by the use of underground cables, but when the Second World War cane, it was realised that more efficient means of signalling were needed. So a new system based on lines and signals was brought into use. By this time, the Signals were involved in the major battles of the Second World War. |
| After the second world war everything changed into a new era, the nuclear age. When this came about, the Signals were called on to maintain a system of communications from the war office downwards. An important development in the post-war Signals was the abolition of Morse code, and the introduction of the V.H.F. radio and the tape relay. |
| The figure of Mercury which is the central feature of the Corps badge was previously the-insignia of the Telegraph Battalion. The motto "Certa Cito" was proposed by a civil servant in the War Office. The Royal Corps of Signals has certainly lived up to its motto which if translated means "Swift and Sure". |
| As an example of how communications have been developing, compare the simple Morse code with the highly complicated Telstar which is now circling the earth. But like any other Corps or Regiment in the British Army the Signals cannot work without the co-operation of all the others. |
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