Signallers enabled military units to communicate by using flags (semaphores), operating signalling lamps, laying telephone lines and using wireless radios.
Sections of the New Zealand Divisional Signal Company (part of the Engineers) were attached to the New Zealand infantry throughout the war. They served with the New Zealand and Australian Division at Gallipoli in 1915, and served on the Western Front with the New Zealand Division from 1916 to 1918. A separate New Zealand Mounted Signal Troop was attached to the Mounted Rifles Brigade which served in Sinai and Palestine from 1916 to 1918.
New Zealand Divisional Signal Company, New Zealand Engineers
New Zealand Mounted Signal Troop, New Zealand Engineers
| Name | Unit attached to | Campaigns | Dates | Further information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand Mounted Signal Troop | New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade | Gallipoli, 1915 Sinai, 1916 Palestine, 1917–18 | August 1914–June 1919 | Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand |
| New Zealand Signals Reserve Depot | HQ NZEF England | Hitching, later Stevenage, England | 1916–19 | Unit diaries at Archives New Zealand |
Badges, shoulder titles and puggarees
Cap and collar badges: crossed flags and star below enclosed by a wreath on a Maltese cross, with scroll ‘New Zealand Signal Corps’ and surmounted by a crown. Motto: Sodales parati (Prepared as comrades together).
The New Zealand Signal Corps was a sub-unit of the New Zealand Engineers, whose shoulder title it wore.
The Signal Corps wore the same puggaree (hatband) as the engineers.
Further reading
Official history of the New Zealand Engineers during the Great War 1914–1919 (Whanganui: Evans, Cobb & Sharpe Ltd, 1927)
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