On the 28th June 1920 the Corps of Signals was formed

The Corps was formed from the Royal Engineers Signal Service. Two of the lessons of World War one were that reliable communications are essential in battle and specialists are needed to provide them. The first official agreement to form a separate Signal Corps was made in 1918, but due to various policy delays the formation of the Corps was delayed until 1920. 

Adding ‘Royal’ to the Corps of Signals

Six weeks after formation the Corps of Signals became the Royal Corps of Signals in recognition of the excellent work that signallers had carried out during the Great War – a tradition of technical excellence, innovation and at times improvisation that was to prove invaluable in peace and war for the next 100 years.

Maresfield, Sussex becomes first home of the Corps

The home of the new Corps was to be Maresfield in Sussex a name which for a variety of reasons would become familiar to generations of signallers. Initially officers were not transferred into the new Corps but were attached on secondment from the Royal Engineers (and occasionally elsewhere) where they retained their seniority. This continued for the first few years until it was realised that this arrangement was impractical and officers were then transferred or recruited directly into the new Corps. Soldiers had been accepted from the beginning and a Signal Training Centre and School of Signals were established at Maresfield to train existing and newly recruited personnel.

Corps almost merge

It was not all plain sailing. In 1926 a committee was set up to report on the practicality of (re)amalgamating the Royal Engineers and (by then) the Royal Corps of Signals but (fortunately!) this was found not to be a particularly good idea.