On 8 September 2022, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. Operation LONDON BRIDGE was immediately stood up with 60 soldiers and 3 Officers from 11 (RSS) Sig Regt called forward to support.
With little notice and limited time to prepare, BGSU Tailors and the Clothing Store stepped up to the mark to ensure all ceremonial clothing and accoutrements were measured and issued to the team. This was a huge effort and required a surge of workforce and long hours so that the team from 11 (RSS) Sig Regt could deploy at short notice to the concentration area on Pirbright Barracks with the best outfits for the state funeral. The team quickly got to work on their boots with assistance from the SSMs and packed for a week’s stay at Pirbright Barracks.
The team lead by Maj Ross was made up of 30 Phase 2 trainees and 33 Permanent Staff from across 11 (RSS) Sig Regt. This number would be split down to 3 half company’s, each led by an Officer to line the streets of London providing military presence to honour the procession but also security to deter or respond to any disruption from the civilian population. With around 4000 military personnel including Commonwealth personnel set to support the event, the team from 11 (RSS) Sig Regt were the only Royal Signals personnel involved in the street lining.
The full article and photos will be in the Winter Edition of The Wire Magazine, due out December.
