68 Signal Squadron is a British Territorial Army ("TA") unit of the Royal Corps of Signals. It operates out of two locations: a townhouse in Lincoln’s Inn, Central London, and (some thirty kilometers away) a more barrack-style premises in Whipps Cross, Leytonstone in East London. It is attached to 71 (Yeomanry) Signal Regiment (Volunteers).
It is usually referred to as 68 Squadron (typically by the Non-commissioned officers and Other Ranks) and as Inns of Court and City Yeomanry (by the Officer’s Mess).
It is the current manifestation of two formerly separate units that were merged in 1961: the Inns of Court Yeomanry, and the City of London Yeomanry (more familiarly known as the Rough Riders).
The Inns of Court Regiment can trace its history back to Elizabethan times to a Volunteer Rifle Corps and is by its name very closely associated with the legal community. In 1585, 95 members of the Inn entered into a solemn pledge to defend queen Elizabeth against the threat of Spain. From then onwards, in times of national peril volunteers were recruited among lawyers. George III is reputed to have styled such a body as the Devil’s Own, a title that lives on today.
The City of London Yeomanry was raised from volunteers of the 20th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry which served with distinction in the Second Boer War in South Africa. Its nickname of "Rough Riders" was taken from a body of volunteer horsemen who fought in the Spanish-American War of 1898.
During the period of reduction of TA units between 1967 and 1969 it had the status of a cadre, but it spirit and purpose was kept alive by the active participation of its personnel, until it was re-constituted as a TA unit under its present name.
Each year the squadron contributes a mounted detachment to the Lord Mayor’s Show that processes through the City of London, as well as providing radio operators and equipment to assist in communications.
The unit is also affiliated with a local Army Cadet Force unit - 35 Signal Squadron From the City of london and North East Sector ACF. Who parade at the whipps cross site, and share the name and cap badge of 68 Squadron.
