The County of Sussex and the R SIGNALS have a long-connected history, going back to the forming of the Corps when the Signal Training Centre and the School of Signals were established at Maresfield in Sussex in 1920. Co-incidentally, Maresfield is only a short hop from the Cadet Training Centre for Sussex ACF in Crowborough, and of course, the Maresfield name lives on in 5 (Maresfield) Sqn at 11 (RSS) Sig Regt.
In more recent times, the Queens Ghurkha Signals have used the South Downs which extends through Sussex as the location for the world renowned Trailwalker charity event, a cheeky 100kms through the south of England, finishing at Brighton Racecourse, which again, co-incidentally, is the location of our County HQ - the Cadet equivalent of a Regimental HQ.
The spirit of the Corps also lives on in Sussex through five main avenues:
Firstly, our sole R SIGNALS badged Detachment is No 10 (Eastbourne) Detachment, commanded by SSI Daniel Baldock. They are currently thriving, with 40 R SIGNAL cap badged Cadets parading on a regular basis where, as well as regular doses of Corps History and knowledge, they partake in a full and challenging training syllabus to convert them from typical civilian teenagers into robust, cheerful and confident young men and women.
Our second avenue is our thriving CIS Platoon. Run by Lt Ollie Hawes, the CIS Platoon is open to Cadets of any cap badge in Sussex interesting in military CIS and Cyber training. The Platoon is wildly oversubscribed as teenagers embrace the opportunities that an awareness of the modern world of IT and communications can offer them. Such is the dedication and success of Lt Hawes’ training team, Sussex have won the yearly Cadet Signals Competition, Exercise ROLLING THUNDER, for the past 3 years with a fourth now firmly in their sights.
Our third avenue is the disproportionate number of R SIGNALS badged Officers and Instructors in the County – too numerous to list here, we have a number of ex Regular and Reserve Officers and soldiers who have decided to settle in Sussex and give their time to help the young Cadets of Sussex. Our Deputy Commandant (analogous to a Regimental 2ic) Lt Col Sahra Earley is badged R SIGNALS and is a long-served volunteer Officer, and several key positions are filled by R SIGNALS Officers and Instructors – our SO2, two Company Commanders, our CISO, Sports and AT Officer, a Coy Training Officer and 3 Detachment Commanders all proudly sport “Jimmy” on their berets and wear the Corps colours with pride. Even our FTRS TSA, WO2 Chris Maginnis, is ex Corps – not bad for a small, Infantry dominated County! The upshot of this visibility is that Sussex are proud to send on at least 3 or 4 great quality Cadets on to serve with the Regular or Reserve Corps every year, via either ATRs or selected via RMAS. If you’re reading this, you know who you are!
Fourthly, Sussex have never been shy to use our Corps links to help contextualise and bring realism to the training we offer to the Cadets of Sussex. In recent years, both 10 Sig Regt and 11 (RSS) Sig Regt have kindly lent us one or two great quality SNCOs to deliver military training to the Cadets, who are always grateful to receive updates from the Corps. More importantly, we’ve noticed that although you can always put leaflets, recruiting brochures and PowerPoint decks in front of teenagers, it’s only finally meeting a R SIGNALS soldier in real life – one that’s knowledgeable, cheerful and bright - that “seals the deal” in the mind of a Cadet and makes them think “This is a Regiment I want to serve in. I want to be like them.”
Lastly, and by no means least, the profile of the Corps has received a real and significant boost as our new Cadet RSM has recently been selected and we are delighted to say it is a R SIGNALS cap badged Cadet. Cadet RSM Boundy joined the ACF in Dec 2017 and has fully embraced all that life as a R SIGNALS Cadet can offer. Not only has he achieved every Syllabus Qualification possible, finishing as a Master Cadet, he is also an active member of the CIS Platoon, completed his Silver Duke of Edinburgh award, an iDEA Award Bronze level holder, a HeartStart First Aider as well as finding time to fundraise for the PWRR Regimental Charity and raise funds for the Poppy Appeal. He is completely indistinguishable from the very best of our R SIGNALS soldiers and is a real credit to our cap badge.
An element of the Corps is thriving in Sussex; if you’re a retired Officer or Soldier that has settled in Sussex, or you’re currently serving in the Corps, either Regular or Reserve, and are interested in helping out on one of our training activities, drop our team an e-mail on: se-sussex-info@rfca.org.uk
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