Image taken from 2011 video when Regiment granted the Freedom.
With colours flying and bayonets fixed, 220 officers and soldiers from the 21 Signal Regiment based at Colerne in Wiltshire will march through the City of Bath next Tuesday, 26th July at 10.20 am.
They’ll be exercising their right to do so – having been granted the Freedom of the City eleven years ago following operations in Afghanistan back in 2011.
The honour recognises the enduring bond between the Regiment and the City.
The tradition of the freedom of a Town or City dates from when fortress walls were necessary to protect its inhabitants from outlaw bands and the attacks of feudal lords.
Holding the freedom of a town or city is the greatest honour that can be bestowed on a unit within the Armed Forces and the Freedom will entitle the Regiment to exercise a right to march through the town with colours flying and bayonets fixed.
Attending the parade will be Maj Gen Stephen Potter QVRM TD VR. Colonel Commandant Royal Signals.
Additionally, HM Lord Lieutenant for the County of Somerset (Mrs Annie Maw) and The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Bath (Councillor Rob Appleyard) will assist in taking the salute.
The Corps Pipes and Drums will be providing Musical Support.
With its rich and varied history, 21 Signal Regiment can trace its roots back to the Second World War as an Air Formation Signals unit; its technological prestige earning itself the Bristol Beaufighter as its regimental emblem – the most advanced fighter-bomber of the war.
After a lengthy history stationed in West Germany supporting the British Army of the Rhine, the Regiment moved to the UK in the mid-1990s. Here it became Defence’s only Air Formation Signals unit and supported the Joint Helicopter Command throughout the Iraq and Balkans campaigns.
In recent years STRIKE communicators have operationally deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Estonia and South Sudan, and undertaken exercises in Germany, Canada, the United States and Oman. They have also supported UK operations, notably during the COVID-19 pandemic.
21 Signal Regiment provides essential combat command support and communications services to 1 Armoured Infantry Brigade, as they transition to become the Army’s first STRIKE Brigade. The Regiment is continually committed to operations, from supporting NATO to UK resilience tasks.
