On the 26th June 1945 the UN charter was signed

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to maintain international peace and security. It was established after World War Two with the aim of preventing future wars thereby succeeding the largely ineffective League of Nations.

At its founding, the UN had 51 member states and by 2011 this number had increased to 193 representing almost all of the world’s sovereign states.

The Charter

The Charter set out the Purposes of the UN as:

• To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace;
• To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
• To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and
• To be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.

Op Grapple

Royal Corps of Signals soldiers have taken part in many of these UN peacekeeping missions including those in Cyprus, the Balkans and beyond.

One such mission (Operation Grapple) occurred In October 1992 when a United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) deployed into Bosnia. The UK contributed an infantry battalion group, an engineer regiment, logistics and signals to Bosnia and a Brigade Headquarters to Split in Croatia.

The initial role was to escort humanitarian aid convoys. The Dutch provided internal UN communications and the British the links with the UK and with and within UK units in the region.