Honours, Decorations, and Medals to The Royal Corps of Signals
for Gallantry & Distinguished Service 1920-2020
In every year since the formation of The Royal Corps of Signals in 1920, its officers and soldiers have been formally recognised for their gallantry and distinguished services on operations across the globe and for their vital contribution to the wider tasks undertaken by the British Army.
Published by the Royal Signals Institution in celebration of the 2020 centennial, this volume records all honours, decorations, and medals awarded since 1920. It includes a wealth of long-forgotten and rarely-seen material and it also records many hundreds of awards that acknowledge the complexity of Royal Signals in its early years—its inextricable link to the Indian Signal Corps; the interweaving of units and personnel from across the Commonwealth during the Second World War and in Korea, Malaya, and Borneo; the role played by Queen’s Gurkha Signals and by locally recruited personnel from Palestine, Malaya, Hong Kong, and Malta; and the crucial contribution made by women from the Auxiliary Territorial Service during the Second World War and the Women’s Royal Army Corps in the post-Second World War period.
The volume comprises three parts. To put the operational awards in context, Section One takes a chronological tour through the history of Royal Signals in three eras—the campaigns of the inter-war years, the Second World War, and global conflict and insurgency since 1945. Other chapters deal with non-combatant gallantry and exploration. With many honours, decorations, and medals no longer available and unfamiliar to many readers in the present-day, Section Two describes the various awards for bravery and distinguished service, Mentions in Despatches and King’s and Queen’s Commendations. The origin and use of each award are explained briefly, and detail is given about the number conferred; many of these chapters contain biographical details of the recipients.
Section Three comprises the Register of Awards. It includes 682 honours, decorations, and medals for gallantry (the recommendations or citations for which are replicated in full), and 2,582 appointments to the various orders of chivalry and awards of the British Empire Medal, the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal, and the Polar Medal. It also records the recipients of a little under 6,200 mentions in despatches, 36 King’s and Queen’s Commendations for Bravery or Brave Conduct, 109 Queen’s Commendations for Valuable Service, and a multitude of foreign awards.
The Register is supported by ten appendices. Six record recipients from the various Empire and Commonwealth signal units linked to Royal Signals in time of conflict or war. The others document awards to personnel of the various women’s services; to Queen’s Gurkha Signals and to locally enlisted personnel from Malaya, Hong Kong and Malta; to military and civilian personnel attached to Royal Signals; and those recognised by the Royal Signals Institution. For an description of the images used on the cover see here.
‘The scope and scale of this project is enormous… I hope that this book, and the stories of those whom it commemorates, will act as an inspiration to those who follow…’
From the Foreword by The Princess Royal
‘stirring stories, clear explanations, and meticulously researched facts’
Maj Gen (Retd) J.J. Cole CB, OBE
Contents
(click on the image below – opens as a pdf)
Honours, Decorations, and Medals to The Royal Corps of Signals – Update
Since Honours, Decorations, and Medals to The Royal Corps of Signals for Gallantry & Distinguished Service 1920-2020 was published in 2021, additional awards have been made and I have received more information about some of those who feature in the book. This free-to-view and download Addendum is in the same format as the book and is complete to June 2025.