Signal Corps

To integrate the Rhine provinces of Prussia which were separated from the heartland into the political and military leadership of the monarchy, an optical telegraph line of almost 550 kilometres was established between Berlin and Koblenz in 1833. The personnel required to operate such a telegraph line were pooled in the Royal Prussian Telegraph Corps and directly assigned to the Prussian General Staff.

This may be considered the beginning of military telecommunications in Germany. With the invention of the telephone and the establishment of telephone exchanges, the first telegraph battalions were founded in 1899. Ever since, military telecommunications have constituted a branch in itself. By the outbreak of World War I, three training wings, seven telegraph battalions and eight fortress signal companies had been configured.

With the mobilisation of 1914, the number of telegraph soldiers soared. It turned out, however, that many high-ranking commanders were at a loss how to use the means of communication at their disposal and their technical potential and, above all, as operationally and tactically required. The failure of the German troops at the First Battle of the Marne, the expansion of the Western Front and the transition to trench warfare in the East had a lasting impact on the further development of military communications in the period that followed. At the end of the war, the signal forces – excluding intelligence detachments – comprised 4,381 officers and approx. 185,000 other ranks serving with more than 2,800 headquarters and units.

Military defeat and the German Revolution in late 1918 had engulfed the nation in a deep crisis.

In 1919, the German delegation accepted the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and thus reduced its army to seven infantry and three cavalry divisions with a total maximum strength of 100,000 soldiers. In 1921, seven division signal units with a manpower of approx. 2,500 soldiers made up the new Reichswehr Signal Corps.

It was during this period that valuable work was done for the further development of military communications.

Merely a few days after he rose to power, Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to be rebuilt. From 1933, new branches were established, and the number of command personnel multiplied many times over. In 1939, the re-establishment of the Army Signal Corps was complete with the corps now consisting of:

one command staff and 19 corps signal sections, and

45 division signal units, among which there were three armoured signal and three mountain signal sections as well as the signal training and experiment department at the German Army Signal School.

After the mobilisation of the Army Signal Corps had been covertly initiated in late July 1939, its key elements and units were operationally ready and available as early as in August 1939:

11 signal regiments, one of which was a command regiment;

23 signal sections of the General Commands of the Army Corps;

35 signal sections of the first-wave infantry divisions;

19 signal sections of the second-wave infantry divisions;

10 signal sections of the motorised infantry and armoured divisions;

3 signal sections of the mountain divisions;

5 mixed signal companies of the four light divisions and the cavalry brigade;

7 radio intelligence companies;

12 field intelligence detachments assigned to the Army Group Headquarters and Field Army Headquarters;

45 independent field trunk cable construction, telephone construction and telephone operating companies, as well as

14 Signal Corps replacement units.

In the last days of May 1945, German signal forces ceased to exist after a dynamic history spanning almost 50 years. It is the tragedy of history that the German signal forces had to prove their efficiency in two terrible world wars.

Zoom

The official date of birth of the Bundeswehr signal forces is considered to be 11 January 1956, the day the “General Directive No. 1/56 for the Buildup of the Army” (Grundsätzliche Weisung für die Aufstellung des Heeres Nr.1/56) was issued. The first signal elements to be formed were five division signal battalions as well as two brigade signal companies. The remaining units, among which were three corps signal battalions, one signal intelligence battalion, three cadre-strength signal companies, one signal training battalion, and the Army Signal School, were established shortly after.

Zoom

German Army Structure 2 shaped the period from 1959 to 1970. Among others, three corps signal headquarters as well as another three corps and five division signal battalions are considered the most important formations to be established in those days. In addition, the structural basis was laid for electronic warfare and the newly formed elements of the signal forces for territorial defence.

The subsequent development phase of German Army Structure 3 from 1970 to 1979 was characterised by the fusion of the field army with the forces for territorial defence. In this context, signal units were formed for the Bundeswehr command level. It was during this period that, among others, 900 Command Telecommunications Brigade with two regiments and five signal battalions came into being. This was also the time when the Army automated communications network (AUTOKO) and modern radio and radio relay technology were introduced.

German Army Structure 4 from 1980 to 1992 was also referred to as a phase of optimisation. It was during this period that the then six military districts and nine brigade signal platoons established headquarters for the signal commanders. Regarding equipment, the introduction of a new generation of radio equipment and the second development stage of AUTOKO brought further technological progress. By late 1989, the signal forces consisted of 34 battalions.

Following German Reunification, the first stage of reform from 1990 to 1996 brought about Army Structure 5, a new structure for the whole Army, which led to a drastic reduction of Army personnel in general. At the end of this development stage, the signal forces of the Bundeswehr consisted of only 22 regiments and battalions.

The second stage of the reform, referred to as German Army structure “New Army for New Tasks” was set into motion in 1997. The Army reduced its numbers yet again, and the requirements to be met by the Army were adapted to fit those of international operations. In 1997, the signal forces consisted of four communication and information systems (CISCommunication and Information Systems) support brigades, one signal intelligence brigade, seven CISCommunication and Information Systems support regiments, and numerous other units and installations.

In 2000, the German federal government adopted another comprehensive reform, the reorientation of the Bundeswehr. For joint tasks, the Joint Support and Enabling Service (Streitkräftebasis, SKBStreitkräftebasis) was established. In the course of this, all communication and information systems support elements were disbanded and their tasks assumed by regiments and battalions. The “Directive on the Further Development of the Armed Forces” (Weisung zur Weiterentwicklung der Streitkräfte) led to the “New Army” structure, which was to upgrade signal forces and CISCommunication and Information Systems forces both in quantitative and qualitative terms.

To perform its function as intervention forces, 1 (DEU) Armoured Division was assigned 1 Signal Regiment. The Specialised Operations Division and the Airmobile Division, as well as the four stabilisation brigades were given one signal battalion each. In addition, one signal battalion was established as a German element for the Multinational Corps Northeast, and one signal company was assigned to 1 (DEU/NLD) Corps, while the Eurocorps - for the first time ever - was given an organic CISCommunication and Information Systems company. The Army Signal School was placed under the command of the Joint Support and Enabling Service in the summer of 2005, and renamed Bundeswehr Communication and Information Systems School. Since then it has been the joint training centre for signal soldiers of the German Army as well as of CISCommunication and Information Systems forces of the Joint Support and Enabling Service.