Swindon Branch - Royal Signals Association

The Swindon Branch was started in 1996.

We meet every fourth Thursday of the month in the local TA Centre where we arrive at 1900hrs for the meeting to commence at 1930hrs.

Meetings can last as long as an hour or less, it all depends upon what has to be discussed at the time. After the meeting we either have a Speaker who gives a talk on a variety of subjects or we just retire to the bar for a drink and chat about old and new times.

We currently have about 30 members including some Associate Members from the Royal Engineers, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Air Force (we welcome new members from other Regiments and other armed Services) and we also have 3 Lady Associate Members lead by Mrs Margaret Howells who run our monthly Raffle and also regularly raise funds for the Association.

The Committee organise trips whenever possible and we have so far visited the Imperial War Museum, the RMCS and lately the JSCSC in the newly formed Defence Academy at Shrivenham. We also have also had the odd quiz and buffet evening and always have our annual Christmas Dinner and Raffle in the TA Centre, although we missed out last year due to the Fire Brigade strike. We are currently looking at the possibility of a trip to the local Brewery.

We advertise for new recruits to the Association by distributing posters throughout Swindon at local Clubs and Pubs, in the local newspaper and on the radio. Maintaining our numbers is difficult although we do maintain in touch with some of our members in absenteeism because of ill health or due to the distances involved in getting to our meetings. Our main priority is to provide a meeting point for friends with a mutual interest and to give essential support to our members and their families if and whenever required.

Anyone interested in joining the Swindon and District Branch of the Association or wanting more details of what we actually do can also contact Rod Mansfield by email