Vehicle Call Signs

[fv1609]

I picked up a 1971 book that covers vehicle callsigns. So if you have callsigns painted on side of your vehicle in large letters this is the callsign eg 1A, 29B etc. I may be able to tell you the role, troop & squadron.

[AlienFTM]

Or ask me.

 

I served in a Recce Regiment 1975 - 82 and specialised as a Control Signaller. Callsigns varied only slightly within teeth arm major units due to their orders of battle, but the Con Sig needed to know for those times when Armour, Infantry, Artillery, Engineers, Aviation, etc were attached to us and vice versa.

 

Note that in our unit, callsigns were detachable so that for instance, should the Troop Leader find himself without a vehicle, he could usurp another in his troop and not have to repaint the whole vehicle. Details (for CVR(T)) on request.

 

;o)

 

Neil A

[Comrad]

Just a note as I remember the callsign actually belongs to the commander

of the vehicle, so for instance if the 4th troop leader is off on a recce, be

would be Call sign 40 while his vehicle would become 40Z.

[AlienFTM]

Just a note as I remember the callsign actually belongs to the commander

of the vehicle, so for instance if the 4th troop leader is off on a recce, be

would be Call sign 40 while his vehicle would become 40Z.

 

That may very well be how it is done now.

 

In the 1970s at least until 1982 when there was a fundamental change in voice procedure, it was the other way round. If 24 was away, his vehicle became Zulu24.

 

;o)

[Richard Grosvenor]

Hello Clive,

 

I've always wonder what the numbers are on my Militant, on both doors is 1/3 RHA which I presume is 3rd Royal Horse Artillery. But on the front it has a 46 on it, what is this for?

But, there's picture's of it in CMV Magazine of it when it was a demonstrator and it has a large 47 on the doors and I haven't got a clue what that's for!

 

Cheers

Richard

[fv1609]

Richard.

 

Red & Blue horizontal is RA.

46 is the serial no for RA Light Regiment (as opposed to Field Regt which used 42, 43, 44).

47 is the callsign for FAC

[Richard Grosvenor]

Richard.

 

Red & Blue horizontal is RA.

46 is the serial no for RA Light Regiment (as opposed to Field Regt which used 42, 43, 44).

47 is the callsign for FAC

 

Thanks Clive,

Whats FAC? :oops:

 

Regards

Richard

[fv1609]

Richard

 

According to "Staff Duties in the Field" FAC = Forward Air Controller.

Callsign 47 was used by:

FAC in D Coy of Infantry Units

FAC in Amoured Engineer Sqns

 

Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, most artillery callsigns seemed to be prefixed with G. I've got an earlier version of this book & will see what it says, but I can't find it. :oops:

[AlienFTM]

Richard

 

According to "Staff Duties in the Field" FAC = Forward Air Controller.

Callsign 47 was used by:

FAC in D Coy of Infantry Units

FAC in Amoured Engineer Sqns

 

Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, most artillery callsigns seemed to be prefixed with G. I've got an earlier version of this book & will see what it says, but I can't find it. :oops:

 

In the Armd Recce Regt of the late 70s, 7 was a spare callsign, either at the beginning or the end. For example in 1976, our B Sqn used the 2 series when stationed in Omagh AND the 7 series when based in St Angelo near Enniskillen.

 

When I did my Con Sig in 1978, FAC (correct = Forward Air Controller) had no designated callsign (we had UHF sets for them but these never left the store and were never powered up).

 

As for the Golf prefix. Like I said earlier in the thread, most units had essentially the same callsign designations. By the late 1970s BAOR started to work in Battlegroups: mixed groups of RAC and infantry units with artillery, engineer etc attachments, all based on a Regiment / Battalion HQ. The Combat Team was the same concept on order of magnitude smaller, based upon a Squadron / Company HQ.

 

These Battlegroups and Combat Teams were not fixed in their orbat and squadrons and troops were reassigned as required. Thus you might have, for example, B Sqn 15/19th The King's Royal Hussars Combat Team with a platoon of B Coy 1 Black Watch, a battery commander assigned from 39 Field Regt RA and a Striker (Swingfire ATGM) Troop from B Battery 3 RHA. So, does 24 refer to 4 Tp B Sqn 19/19H, 4 Pln B Coy 1 BW, 4 Section B Battery 39 Fd Regt RA or to the RHA. And a helicopter from the AAC (6 was the recce callsign, so in Omagh the helicopters of Air Squadron on regimental strength were the 6 series of callsigns).

 

Solution? In these circumstances, each callsign would be prefixed with an Arm Indicator thus:

 

India = Infantry

Kilo = Infantry alternate (not required in this case)

Tango = RAC (~= Tank but included Recce)

Uniform = RAC alternate

Golf = RA (~= Guns)

Whiskey = RA alternate (necessary in the above example to avoid a clash of RA callsigns)

Alpha = Aviation

Bravo = Airborne or Special Forces - hence Bravo 20 but see note.

 

The above was the callsign order on a mixed net (but note that host units answered up first, this sequence notwithstanding, so that for example on a B Sqn 15/19H Combat Team net an all stations radio check would see the T2s, T21s, T22s, T23s, T24s, T26s, T28s, T29s THEN I2, I21 etc, G2 etc, W2 etc, A21 if there was a helicopter then anything else would answer up in alphanumerical order.

 

By the time of the fundamental Voice Procedure change of 1982 discussed in my earlier post, it had been noted that there was a security issue to be addressed. The Arm Indicator was replaced by a daily changing prefix for all callsigns, so that at 2359 on one day, I might be Romeo24, then a minute later when the codes and frequencies changed I might be Juliet24. Note that at the same time the Army finally decided that midnight DID exist and defined midnight as 0000 Hrs on the second day and a Defence Council Instruction was issued defining midnight. Until this time, the Army clock went from 2359 to 0001 to avoid any confusion over WHICH midnight applied. Previously, if a time of midnight was necessary, it was referred to as midnight and qualified to avoid confusion.

 

HTH

[Richard Grosvenor]

Hello,

I'm more confused than ever! :?

 

These are the picture's of it from CMV,

 

The first picture without question is "Mally" and I'm presuming that the other 2 are also of it. I'm thinking the 2 "unregistered pictures" are publicity photo's, note the pristine AEC badge which is over painted on the later picture. We know that Mally was unregistered for a year and then spent 10 years with the Fighting Vehicle Reach and Devolvement Unit as a demonstrator to foreign governments. But I don't fully understand the 47, or the 4332

I keep saying I'll contact CMV to see if they have any other photos of it.

 

Regards

Richard

[fv1609]

Oh I see! These are most likely FVRDE markings for use at shows at Chertsey for foreign arms buyers put on by MOD & The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders. Large numbers to identify exhibits, not call signs :oops:

[fv1609]

Richard

 

I apologise I led you astray, looking back on your original post I see you said it was when it was used as a demonstrator. I missed that then got carried away on call signs :oops: .

[schliesser92]

The 46 on the Militant is in fact a "Tac Sign" - on the other side should be the Division flash. 46 indicates one of the field artillery regiments that formed the divisional artillery. Later, in the 60s, this number would have been "66".

 

ie in 1965/66 - 1/66 was Ist Division, 18 Fd Regt RA (based in Munsterlager)

[Dick6679]

Has anyone got a pre BATCO callsign orbat of an Armoured Recce or Tank Regiment?  If so I would be very grateful if you could send me a copy

Thanks Richard

[daleheywoodtanks]

Call sign matrix, found inside our CET. Ex Iraq.

May be of interest on some later models ?

 

 

[daleheywoodtanks]

The vehicle the above call sign matrix was affixed to was, 42 Alpha.