In May 1939 my father enlisted at Ipswich as a Signalman in the 54th Division Royal Corps of Signals TA posted to 209 Medium Regiment RA Signal Section and later to the 67th Medium Regiment RA TA Signal Section. He did his training at Cheshunt, Herts. He obtained Op W/L B III and Op W/L B II as can be seen on attached Service Records and Service Book extracts. He also obtained an ID Card for Mechanical Transport Drivers . He was sent to North Africa (captured at Tobruk) and I have a photo (attached) of Dad standing beside a lorry in the desert, Could anyone please help with the following - 1) Recruitment - was there a criteria/selection process to join the Royal Signals? if so what was it? 2) What did the two levels of training qualify him to do? 3) Would the lorry and the drivers licence mean Dad might have been an "observer"? Any help anyone can give me would be very much appreciated. Susan
Susan, I'm new to the forum and have just come across your post about your father's experience in Royal Signals, in which my father also served. I don't know the answer to any of your questions, but I have one observation about your question on recruitment. My father left school in approx. 1930, having completed 5 years secondary education. He then joined the Civil Service, having passed an open entrance exam. He told me that when he was called up, he was told to attend Stow College in Glasgow, which was being temporarily used by the army for admin purposes. At one point, he was waiting in a classroom with a number of other men, all of whom were destined for Royal Sigs. He noted that many of the men were teachers, or worked in some professional capacity. My father certainly had no technical qualification which would have suited him to be a signaller. Hope this helps David
