2 Special AFS Troop

2 Special Air Formation Signal Troop, Royal Signals - strength two officers and 48 men was formed on 1st April 1956, by 1st Infantry Division Signal Regiment from a nucleus of 12 volunteers from 2nd Tactical Air Force Air Formation Signals. The remaining 37 members of the troop, many of whom were also volunteers, joined from 1st Infantry Division Signal Regiment and other Royal Signals units in England.

The role of the troop was to give communication support on Christmas Island during the British Nuclear testing programme.

During the first six months on Christmas Island the troop was employed in providing communications for the port, the engineer construction sites at the main airfield, the auxiliary airstrip and the island administrative area. Over the period of the following six months the operational line communication system was built, providing multi-position exchanges at the Joint Operation Centre and Main Airfield, with greatly expanded trunk facilities, and two controls were installed, one acting as the Island Link Fault Control. These system controls made possible quick re-routing of trunk circuits and emergency switching of the long radio control lines.

In all, the troop laid and maintained 360 miles of cable including 95 miles of high quality circuits and installed four telephone exchanges comprising seven 65 line positions and approximately 350 GPO telephones.

In addition it had throughout assisted the Royal Navy in the laying and maintaining of submarine cables to ships lying off the port.