42 (East Lancashire) Signal Regiment was a Territorial Army unit of the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals. It had its origins in a Volunteer unit of the Royal Engineers formed in Manchester during the Second Boer War. It provided the divisional signals during both world wars, and served with the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division, and the 66th Infantry Division. Its successor continues in the Army Reserve as a Signal Troop in Manchester.

Origin

The unit has its origins in G Company, 3rd Lancashire Royal Engineers, a Volunteer Force unit of the Royal Engineers (RE) formed in the City of Manchester during the Second Boer War. When the Volunteers were subsumed into the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908, G Company of this unit became the basis for the East Lancashire Divisional Telegraph Company (termed Signal Company from 1911). The company headquarters (HQ) was at the East Lancashire RE drill hall at 73 Seymour Grove, Old Trafford; the rest of the company was organised as a cable section and three brigade signal sections:Kelly, History of 42 Signal Sqn.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, pp. xvi–xxiv.Westlake, pp. 10–1.London Gazette, 20 March 1908.3rd Lancs RE (V) at Regiments.org.East Lancs SignalsMonthly Army List, various dates.Lord & Watson, pp. 150–1.Nalder, p. 596. No 1 (Cable) Section at Seymour Grove No 2 (Lancashire Fusiliers) Section No 3 (East Lancashire) Section No 4 (Manchester) Section Nos 2–4 Sections were attached to and largely manned by the three infantry brigades of the division; nine motor cycle Despatch riders had been added to the company by 1914. The first Officer Commanding (OC) was Captain E.C. Holden. The Signal Company did not train with the rest of the division in 1912, having been specially selected to take part in that year's Autumn Manoeuvres of the Regular Army.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, p. xxiii–xxv.

First World War Mobilisation At the beginning of August 1914, the East Lancashire Division was preparing to go on annual training at Caernarfon when orders came cancelling the camp because of the deteriorating international situation. The RE companies returned to Seymour Grove, where mobilisation orders arrived at 18.00 on 4 August. The men were billeted in the schools next door to the drill hall and horses and carts were requisitioned according to standing instructions. On 10 August TF units were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service, which was greeted with acclamation at Seymour Grove; virtually the whole of the East Lancashire Division volunteered. On 18 August, the signal company went to Bury and its sections camped with their brigades.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, pp. 23–4, 199.Gibbon, pp. 3–6.Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 33 & 65.Becke, Pt 2a, pp. 35–41.42 Division at Long, Long Trail.

On 31 August, the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way, duplicate battalions, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas. Later, 3rd Line units were formed to supply drafts to the 1st and 2nd Lines.Becke, Pt 2b, p. 6.

42nd (East Lancashire) Divisional Signal Company

The East Lancashire Division was selected as the first complete TF division to go overseas, to relieve Regular troops from garrison duties in Egypt. The divisional engineers entrained at Bolton on 9 September and the following day embarked at Southampton with the signal company (150 strong) aboard the Saturnia. The OC of the Signal Co on embarkation was Captain (later Major) Arthur Lawford.Gibbon, pp. 6, 18.

Egypt The convoy of troopships arrived at Alexandria on 25 September, and the divisional RE moved to Cairo, where the Signal Co set up communications for the Cairo defences and trained infantry signallers. Two cable detachments ran a line from Kantara to Ismailia, which was very important when the Suez Canal defences were attacked the following year. Early in 1915, the signal establishment was increased to provide a section for the divisional artillery HQ, another cable detachment and additional motor cycle despatch riders, bringing the company strength up to 208. All the other ranks (ORs) in Nos 2–4 Sections were transferred from their infantry regiments to the RE. The divisional RE was withdrawn for training after Christmas, but returned to the canal defences when the Turkish Army carried out a Raid on the Suez Canal. Signal detachments were engaged in the fighting at Tussum on 3–4 February 1915.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, pp. 24–5, 200.Gibbon, pp. 7, 13–14.

Gallipoli On 1 May, the division began embarking at Alexandria to join the Gallipoli Campaign, the Signal Co with Divisional HQ (DHQ) aboard the Crispin. 2nd Signal Section landed with the Lancashire Fusilier Brigade at Cape Helles on 5–6 May and went straight into action at the Second Battle of Krithia; the rest of the company landed 9–10 May. The division was designated 42nd (East Lancashire) Division (callsign YDB) from 26 May, with the infantry brigades designated 125th (Lancashire Fusiliers) Brigade (ZLE), 126th (East Lancashire) Brigade (ZLF) and 127th (Manchester) Brigade (ZLG).Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, pp. 25–6.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, pp. 201–3.Gibbon, pp. 17–23.

Company HQ was established above Lancashire Landing, but then moved to join DHQ, running telegraph cables back to corps HQ and forward to the brigade HQs, then to the flanking divisions (29th and Royal Naval). The company had to provide a large party to reinforce 29th Divisional Signal Co, which had suffered heavy casualties. On 25 May, a rainstorm flooded 125th Bde HQ in Krithia Nullah, washing away the signals equipment, and the section suffered casualties while replacing it. On 3 June, Sergeant C.E. Williams won the first Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) awarded to the company when in charge of two cable-laying parties in Krithia Nullah. They were caught by two salvoes of Turkish artillery fire, suffering casualties to men, horses and equipment, but he reorganised them and completed the job in time for the next day's attack (the Third Battle of Krithia). The company then had several days' intense work during the battle with the infantry brigades requiring communication to be maintained from their advanced HQs in the support trenches to their main HQs and to their supporting artillery. The company also established a visual signal link back to DHQ, which proved of great value when signal cables were continually cut by artillery fire. In the subsequent fighting of 12–13 July, the division's cable lines were utilised when those of the attacking divisions were cut.Gibbon, p. 32.

By the end of August, the company strength was very low because of sickness, and it was commanded by a junior officer. Captain R.W. Dammers of the Sherwood Foresters assumed command on 10 October.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, p. 204. In December, the decision was made to wind up the campaign. 42nd (EL) Division was relieved from 28 December, the signal sections leaving with their brigades for Mudros. Company HQ and No 1 Section reached Mudros on 3 January 1916, leaving only a small detachment to work the communications until the final evacuation from Helles on 9 January.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, p. 205.Gibbon, pp. 60–2.

Sinai 42nd (EL) Division was withdrawn from Mudros to Egypt on 16 January and returned to Cairo. The company moved up to Shallufa on the canal by 2 February, where a large draft arrived from England to refill the ranks. The company worked on setting up cable and visual communications between desert strongpoints and the HQs. On 3 April, the company moved to Suez for training. Captain Dammers having been invalided, Capt C.H. Williamson of No 4 (Manchester Bde) Section took over as OC. The company returned to the canal defences in June, maintaining an elaborate communication network. When 42nd (EL) Division advanced after the Battle of Romani (3–5 August), the company struggled to get a horsed cable wagon up to the divisional report centre; after that camel transport was improvised in the pursuit to Katia Oasis. From then until the end of January 1917, 42nd (EL) Division protected the railhead as it slowly advanced across the Sinai Peninsula to El Arish, with the signallers erecting telegraph lines along the route.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, pp. 206–8.Gibbon, pp. 63–83.

On 28 January 1917, after reaching El Arish, 42nd (EL) Division was ordered to leave Egypt and join the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. It entrained for Kantara and marched to Moascar, where it concentrated, and then moved to Alexandria for embarkation at the end of the month. The company's strength at this time was 5 officers and 229 ORs.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, p. 209.Gibbon, pp. 65, 83–5.

Western Front The signal sections sailed with their respective brigades, and the division concentrated at Pont-Remy on 15 March. At the time the BEF was engaged in following the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line (Operation Alberich) requiring much cable-laying in the devastated area around Péronne. The first medal awarded to the division in France was a Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) to Corporal Samuel Eccles, a despatch rider who rode to deliver a message despite a broken ankle sustained in an accident en route. In May, the division moved to Havrincourt Wood in front of the Hindenburg Line, where the Signal Co laid deep buried cables to the brigade HQs. It also carried out its first work with trench wireless. The company was reorganised, with a sub-section allocated to each of the division's Royal Field Artillery brigades.Anon, History of the East Lancashire RE, p. 209–10Gibbon, pp. 86–96.

In July, the division was withdrawn for training at Achiet-le-Petit, where the signallers were instructed in all the new communication methods that had been introduced while they were in Egypt. Then, in August, the division was sent to the Ypres Salient, with the Advanced Signal Office and Report Centre established in the ramparts of Ypres itself. Constant shellfire meant frequent and dangerous work to repair cable breaks. On 6 September, 125th Bde made an attack on the strongpoints of Iberian, Borry and Beck House farms (the division's only involvement in the Battle of Passchendaele), and for 24 hours the only communications No 2 Section were able to maintain were by carrier pigeon. After only three weeks in the Salient, the division was relieved, but casualties among the signallers at the Advanced Signal Office in the ramparts during this period amounted to 90 per cent, mainly from poison gas.Anon, History, pp. 210–1.Gibbon, pp. 97–104.

42nd (EL) Division next went to Nieuport on the Belgian coast, where the flooded country and persistent shelling meant heavy work for the signallers to repair telephone lines that were frequently broken, particularly across the River Yser. On 19 November, the division moved again to the La Bassée sector, where the signallers were engaged in burying signal cables to avoid shell damage. Although the sector was quieter, 125th Bde HQ was hit by a salvo of shells and the signal office wiped out. The division was withdrawn for rest and training on 15 February 1918. By 1 March, the company's strength was 9 officers and 274 ORs.Anon, History, pp. 211–3.Gibbon, pp. 106–26.

At a lecture to the division's officers and NCOs on 1 March 1918, the commander of 42nd (EL) Division, Maj-Gen Arthur Solly-Flood, coined the motto 'Go one better', which continued to be used by the signal company and its successors.Gibbon, pp. 125.

Spring Offensive