NETHERLANDS SIGNAL
SQUADRON

Foreword and Accountability

This dossier records the history of the Netherlands Signal Squadron (NSSQ): the Dutch signals unit that, throughout the Cold War, formed part of the great NATO headquarters at Rheindahlen, near Mönchengladbach in West Germany. It was a unit that remained virtually unknown to the outside world, yet for hundreds of Dutch servicemen it marked a formative period of their lives.

The immediate occasion for this volume is the reunion of 19 September 2026 — the third in a series, and the last that Stefan van Nijmweegen (intake 80-1, line platoon) will organise before his retirement. The Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen', which has grown into a living archive of the unit, was founded by John van Velzen (intake 84-1); Van Nijmweegen joined later and has since been co-founder and its most active contributor. After two months at the Elias Beeckman barracks in Ede he was transferred to Rheindahlen at his own request, where — after his national service, as a short-term volunteer (KVV) — he served until 3 March 1987, leaving as a corporal first class. He was, moreover, an indispensable source for this dossier: he contributed a wealth of photographs and background material and established contact with Colonel (ret.) Frank Peersman, whose information on the founding and history of the squadron runs through several parts of this story. It seemed a fitting moment to gather the stories, photographs and facts circulating there into one coherent historical account.

The guiding principle was chosen deliberately: the story must be accurate and verifiable. Wherever possible the facts have been checked against public sources — the Dutch order of battle of 1985 (orbat85.nl), Wikipedia on JHQ Rheindahlen and the Northern Army Group, and the veterans' site of 13 (BE) Cie TTr — and against two primary sources from within the unit itself: a jubilee article from 1981 marking its twentieth anniversary, and a jubilee booklet from around 1986 marking its twenty-fifth. Wherever a statement rests on a single source or cannot be firmly established, this is noted.

The photographs in this version come largely from the picture archive of the former NSSQ men themselves — preserved and shared through the Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen' and a joint photo album. This dossier was compiled by Gerard Worm, who served with the NSSQ at Rheindahlen in 1981 as a sergeant and commander of a line detachment. As he himself puts it, the European military cooperation that was taken for granted in his years of service was, by 2026, once again at the very centre of the European security debate — a continuity that underlines the lasting significance of this history.

It remains a living document: personal recollections may be added in a later version. In accordance with the compiler's wishes, the emphasis lies on the picture of the unit as a whole, not on individual persons.

This dossier has been compiled for, and is distributed among, the former members of the Netherlands Signal Squadron. It is not printed, published or sold. The images have been collected with care and in good faith; anyone who believes they hold rights to an image may come forward, after which it will be amended or removed. Reproduction or other use of the photographs — certainly for commercial or public purposes — is not permitted without the consent of the rights holders.

1. The Cold War and the Northern Army Group

After the Second World War the Iron Curtain divided Europe into two camps. At the centre of that dividing line lay West Germany, and it was precisely there that NATO placed the main weight of its forward defence. The North German Plain was considered the most likely route for an attack from the East, and it was the task of the Northern Army Group — NORTHAG for short — to defend that area.

NORTHAG was an international formation. In wartime its headquarters would command four army corps — one Dutch, one German, one British and one Belgian — with an American corps in reserve. That multinational structure meant that units from different countries had to work together on a daily basis. The headquarters was established on 1 November 1952, initially at Bad Oeynhausen, and moved to Rheindahlen in 1954.

A headquarters can only function if its communications work. Orders, reports and intelligence must reach their destination under all circumstances — in peacetime, on exercise and, when it comes to it, in war. That lifeline of command was provided by a separate, international signals organisation. And within it the Netherlands held a fixed, recognisable place: the Netherlands Signal Squadron.

2. JHQ Rheindahlen — A Town Within a Town

Anyone crossing the border from Venlo in those years and driving towards Mönchengladbach hardly noticed the transition. The wooded, agricultural landscape gave way to neatly laid asphalt roads with immaculately kept lawns. A striking amount of military traffic, many cars with British number plates, and street names such as Queens Avenue: one found oneself, almost without any signposting, in the middle of the NATO headquarters Rheindahlen.

Construction began in 1952; in October 1954 the headquarters moved onto the site. Within a few weeks some twelve thousand servicemen relocated to what soon came to be called "a town within a town". Four headquarters were established there: HQ NORTHAG, HQ 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF), HQ British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and HQ Royal Air Force Germany (RAFG). It was in effect a little England on German soil — a 'Little England' with an estimated ten thousand inhabitants.

The construction was a tour de force. The complex rose in the middle of the Rheindahlener Wald, a forest of about a thousand acres (some four hundred hectares) with no access roads; an estimated seven million tree roots were dug out, while as many trees as possible were spared to create a park-like whole. Twenty kilometres of road were laid, and more than sixteen hundred kilometres (a thousand miles) of piping for water, heating, gas, electricity and sewerage. The central office building measured three hundred by one hundred and eighty yards — roughly 275 by 165 metres — and contained nearly two thousand offices. There were also sixty-five accommodation blocks, over eleven hundred family homes, schools for 720 younger and 400 older pupils, and an Olympic-size swimming pool. The whole town was heated from two large boiler houses through seventeen substations.

The driving force behind the construction was Colonel H. Grattan, appointed in August 1952 as the responsible engineer officer (Chief Engineer, Special). Grattan reputedly possessed the gift of water divining and thus managed to tap an abundant water source of the camp's own; four wells were sunk and a private waterworks built, so that the camp did not depend on the German water supply. The whole project, moreover, had to be completed in roughly two years, before Germany regained its sovereignty in October 1954. That was the condition under which the funding had been approved: after that date the costs would fall on the British taxpayer rather than on German 'support costs'.

There were terraced houses and English street names, a NAAFI superstore with British products, two cinemas, a BP petrol station, one Catholic and several Protestant churches, a YWCA bookshop, libraries, a swimming pool, cricket and football pitches and a tea shop. The whole was laid out on the Garden City concept, with plenty of greenery and cul-de-sacs to keep traffic in check. There were also its own schools, including British primary schools, a Belgian school and the Windsor School.

Its beating heart was the central main building, known in the corridors as "the Big House" (and mockingly as "the Kremlin"). It was kept strikingly low — three storeys, one of them underground — and seemed open to all, but that was an illusion: without special passes one was turned away without exception. The NSSQ was not housed in the Big House, but a number of its men did have access to the building by virtue of their work.

The Big House had originally been built as a NATO headquarters and in fact housed two worlds. On one side sat HQ BAOR and the British-led HQ NORTHAG — the Northern Army Group, made up of the 1st British Corps, a German army corps headquartered in Münster, a Belgian division in the Rhineland, a Dutch division south of the Elbe and, for a time, a Canadian brigade. On the other side were HQ Royal Air Force Germany and HQ 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force. It is precisely that international, combined staff that explains why a small Dutch unit like the NSSQ performed its signals task here.

That second world was considerable. The 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force, formed in 1958 and disbanded in 1993, had the task of supporting the Northern Army Group from the air. Under its command stood Royal Air Force Germany, the Belgian Air Force, the Royal Netherlands Air Force, two divisions of the German Luftwaffe and an American Tactical Fighter Group, together with the air-defence and radar chain in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. In wartime, 2 ATAF and NORTHAG would jointly occupy one underground command post: the Joint Operations Centre in the Cannerberg near Maastricht (see chapter 22). Under one roof at Rheindahlen, then, both the land war and the air war for the northern half of West Germany were being prepared — and all that consultation, all those orders and all those messages had to travel over lines that someone had laid.

Rheindahlen as a target — the IRA attacks

Rheindahlen was not only a place of work but also a target. As one of the most visible British headquarters on the European mainland, the complex ranked high on the list of the Provisional IRA, which from the 1970s extended its armed campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland to the continent. Rheindahlen was struck twice.

The first attack came as early as January 1973, making it one of the earliest IRA attacks outside the British Isles. A car bomb had been placed in the car park by the Globe cinema, timed to explode at the moment the audience walked back to their cars after the film. As chance would have it, the film ended early; the car park was already nearly empty when the bomb went off. No one was injured and only a few cars were damaged. A Dutch man and a woman from Belfast were later arrested, but their presumed leader managed to escape.

Far more serious was the attack of 23 March 1987. At around half past ten in the evening a heavy car bomb exploded on the site, close to the officers' mess — the British Army later spoke of some three hundred pounds of explosives, roughly one hundred to one hundred and forty kilos. Thirty-one people were injured, seven of them seriously; among them was the German Major General Hans Hoster, then chief of staff of NORTHAG. A Dutch serviceman also suffered minor injuries. That there were no fatalities was largely down to luck: the perpetrators had been unable to park the car closer to the mess because the car park was full. Bitterly enough, many of those parked cars belonged to German officers who were guests of their British colleagues that very evening. The explosion tore a crater half a metre deep and three metres wide in the ground. The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility.

The car used for the attack — an eight-year-old red Volvo 244 — turned out to have come from the Netherlands. It had been bought in The Hague on 11 March by a man with an Irish passport — issued in the name of thirty-one-year-old Irishman M.

Heaney — loaded with explosives and driven into Germany via the border crossing at Elmpt, near Roermond. After the attack the perpetrators fled towards the Dutch border; just before the crossing an abandoned army uniform was found by the roadside, presumably worn so as not to attract attention on the guarded military site. The search for the perpetrators extended across the whole of Northern Europe.

That the trail led to Roermond was no coincidence. The Limburg town, less than half an hour's drive from the British and allied bases just across the border, was a favourite night-out destination for British service personnel — and thereby itself became a scene of violence. On the night of 1 May 1988 the IRA shot dead an RAF serviceman in Roermond and gravely wounded his comrade; less than half an hour later a bomb under a car in nearby Nieuw-Bergen killed two other RAF men. It was the deadliest IRA attack on British forces on the European mainland in the entire period of the Troubles. Two years later, on 27 May 1990, things went horribly wrong once more: two Australian tourists were shot dead in Roermond's market square, mistaken for British servicemen because they were driving a hire car with British number plates.

For the men of the NSSQ, who did their work on and around the complex every day, these attacks were no distant news item. They made painfully clear that Rheindahlen — however familiar as a 'town within a town' — was a real target in the middle of the Cold War, and that the threat did not stop at the barriers of the complex.

With the end of the Cold War the complex lost its reason for being. NORTHAG was disbanded on 24 June 1993; the British headquarters later moved to Bielefeld, and on 13 December 2013 the site was returned to the German authorities. That brought to a close almost sixty years of military history in this place.

Gallery — Maps, Buildings and Aerial Views

Rheindahlen was a complete garrison — 'a town within a town'. These maps, buildings and overview images give an impression of the scale of the site.

3. The Francisca Axe — The Emblem of NORTHAG

Every headquarters carries its own symbolism, and NORTHAG's has a striking story. According to tradition, a Frankish battle axe — a so-called throwing axe or francisca — was found in the ground during the construction of the headquarters at Rheindahlen. That axe became the emblem of the Northern Army Group.

The choice was no accident. The francisca referred to the victory that an alliance of armies won in Western Europe in the year 451 over an attacker from the East — the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, where Romans and Franks, among others, brought the army of Attila the Hun to a halt. For a NATO headquarters whose very purpose was to repel an attack from the East together, it was a telling symbol. The francisca shield recurs on the signs, vehicles and emblems across the site — and also, as we shall see, in the emblem of the NSSQ itself.

4. Origins, Name and Garrison

The Netherlands Signal Squadron was a purely Dutch unit of the Royal Netherlands Army which, within the framework of NATO, performed a fixed, defined set of signals tasks. The unit was younger than NORTHAG itself. Its formation began in 1961, and the squadron celebrated its twentieth anniversary on 1 November 1981 — which places the founding date at 1 November 1961. The regimental archive makes this a little more precise: in fact the squadron was raised as early as 1 September 1961, from 891 Signal Operating Battalion at Bergen op Zoom. Only later was 1 November 1961 adopted as the founding date — and that is the date the unit itself always celebrated.

Thanks to the 25th-anniversary booklet, much is known about those early days. The first commanding officer was Major (later Lieutenant Colonel, ret.) C. Salomons, who was instructed by the Inspectorate of the Signal Corps to raise the Netherlands Signal Squadron at Bergen op Zoom with effect from 1 November 1961. It was, in his own words, starting with nothing: the unit was a guest of 891 Signal Battalion at Bergen op Zoom, where it was allocated its only office space. His right-hand man, Captain Ruygrok, would manage the equipment. According to tradition, moreover, every Dutch unit had to give up a few jeeps for the new unit — and one can guess these were not the finest examples.

Only in 1966 were those first jeeps replaced by Land Rovers, which meant a great improvement. Accommodation, too, was difficult at first: after being housed elsewhere in the area, the NSSQ was moved in 1963 to JHQ Rheindahlen, where it found its permanent home.

There is a fact attached to those moves that is easily overlooked. With the move to the Francisca Barracks in early 1962, the Netherlands Signal Squadron became the first Dutch military unit to be permanently stationed in Germany. Everything that came afterwards — the Dutch presence at Seedorf, at Münster, with 1 (GE/NL) Corps — came after this squadron.

— Contributed by F. F. M. (Frank) Peersman, Colonel of the Signal Corps (ret.), secretary of the Signal Corps Historical Collection and staff member of its Archive and Library, July 2026.

In the Netherlands the name always needed explaining. "A squadron? That must be air force!" — for in the Netherlands squadron is above all an air force term. Yet this was a signals company of the army. The English designation stemmed from the international environment: within the NATO headquarters English was the working language and British and NATO naming conventions applied. The NSSQ was the first Dutch army unit to carry a 'squadron' designation — and throughout its existence the only one. The 1981 jubilee article recorded it as such. In the end, one more would follow.

For after the disbandment of the Netherlands Signal Squadron, a new Dutch signals unit was formed at Sankt Tönis near Krefeld under the name 1 (NL) Signal Squadron — thereby the army's second squadron. That it should be Sankt Tönis of all places closes the circle: that is where the NSSQ itself began in 1962 in the Francisca-Kaserne, and where the British 28 (BR) Signal Regiment lay, the sister unit from the NORTHAG Signal Group (see chapter 5).

— Contributed by Stefan van Nijmweegen (intake 80-1, line platoon), July 2026. For now this rests on this single oral source; it cannot be found in public reference works. Additions are welcome.

5. Task and Place Within the NORTHAG Signal Group

Providing the communications for a headquarters like NORTHAG was no purely Dutch affair, but an international undertaking in which each country took responsibility for its own sharply defined part of the signals system. The whole was known as the NORTHAG Signal Group (also called the NORTHAG Signals Support Group).

The division of tasks, described in the jubilee article and confirmed by a British veteran of the regiment concerned, was as follows. The NSSQ provided the dispatch-rider and line communications: it laid and maintained all cables and lines at the war and exercise locations and ran the courier service. The Belgian unit 13 (BE) Cie TTr (Troupe de Transmission) took care of the radio communications. The German 840 (GE) Fernmeldebataillon provided the radio-relay and carrier links. The British 28 (BR) Signal Regiment ran the communication centres and the troposcatter links. A pleasing coincidence: that British regiment lay in the Francisca-Kaserne at Sankt Tönis (near Krefeld), named after the very same Frankish battle axe that forms NORTHAG's emblem (see chapter 3). The ground-to-air communications rested with an internationally manned Air Support Radio Squadron (ASRS). It was a concrete example of real NATO cooperation: four nationalities, each forming one link in a single chain.

Netherlands — NSSQ Cable and line communications; dispatch-rider and courier service

Belgium — 13 (BE) Cie TTr Radio and HF communications

Germany — 840 Fernmeldebataillon Radio-relay and carrier links

Great Britain — 28 (BR) Signal Regiment Communication centres and troposcatter links

Ground-to-air communications

International — ASRS

A tile bearing the emblem of the NORTHAG Signal Group. In the centre, NORTHAG's Francisca axe; around it the corps emblems of the four national partners — top left the British Royal Signals, top right the Belgian Transmission Troops with the motto "Omnia Conjungo", bottom left the German Fernmeldetruppe and bottom right the Netherlands Signal Corps. (From the picture archive.)

Within that structure the NSSQ had two chains of command. The most important was the tactical-operational line: through it the squadron came directly under the commander of the NORTHAG Signal(s Support) Group. In addition there was an administrative line — for military justice and discipline, pay, food and clothing — through which the squadron came under the Netherlands Administrative Corps at Mönchengladbach.

The Belgian sister unit — 13 (BE) Cie TTr

Of the four national partners within the NORTHAG Signal Group, the Belgian 13 (BE) Cie TTr (Transmission Troops Company) provided the radio communications. The unit arose from a decision, in the early 1960s, to form an independent HF radio company within NORTHAG. It became a fully Belgian unit, manned with personnel transferred from existing transmission units.

On 2 May 1961, in the Klerken quarter at Ossendorf, assembly was sounded for the company's pioneers: three officers, twelve NCOs and five corporals and privates formed the start. Two weeks later, on 15 May 1961, the unit moved to the Francisca Barracks at Krefeld-Forstwald — once again a barracks bearing the name of the Frankish battle axe, the same symbol that formed NORTHAG's emblem (see chapter 3). The 6th Battalion Transmission Troops accepted sponsorship, entitling the men of 13 TTr to wear the black beret with pride.

The company came under the command of the commander of the NORTHAG Transmission Troops Grouping, within the same NORTHAG Signal Group to which the NSSQ also belonged. For more than thirty years 13 Cie TTr established, operated and maintained the radio communications of the NORTHAG headquarters; 'delivering radio communications in the most efficient way' was regarded as the unit's hallmark. In 1985 the original Siemens equipment was replaced by that of the firm ANT. The company remained active until it was disbanded in the early 1990s with the dissolution of NORTHAG (1993).

Two colleagues remained members of 13 TTr from its formation to its disbandment: René Verhoye and Julien Martens. The successive commanders were Majors Stevens (1961), Henin (1966), Thijs (1966), Baes (1969), Verbeke (1972), Declercq (1975), Bombois (1978) and Van Caenenberghe (1980), Captain De Keyzer (acting commander, 1983), and Majors Meulemans (1983) and Rodolf (1986), followed by Lieutenant Colonel Engelen (1989).

— After the unit history of 13 (BE) Cie TTr (13ciettr) and the NSSQ jubilee article by A.M. de Gouw (1981).

ACE High — where the NATO network came in

The troposcatter links that fell to the British 28 (BR) Signal Regiment in the division of tasks were no abstraction. They belonged to ACE High — in full, Allied Command Europe Highband — the fixed communications network by which NATO linked its headquarters from Norway to Turkey, independently of the host nations' public telephone networks.

Troposcatter exploited a physical phenomenon. A powerful UHF signal was fired into the sky by an enormous, almost horizontally aimed parabolic antenna; in the troposphere — the lowest layer of the atmosphere — part of it was scattered and reflected back, so that it could be received far beyond the horizon. This made links possible over distances for which an ordinary line-of-sight connection fell short, without depending on vulnerable cables or on intervening, possibly occupied territory. The dishes were so large that outsiders regularly mistook them for radar installations.

The nearest ACE High station lay less than five kilometres from the headquarters: station AHEZ at Hehn, on the northern edge of Mönchengladbach, on the grounds of the British Ayrshire Barracks North. Hehn itself had no troposcatter dishes; it was a line-of-sight station, with a lattice mast about seventy metres high. From that mast, radio links ran to Uedem (54 km), Roetgen (57.6 km), Brunssum (40 km) and Lammersdorf — and, over a mere 4.9 kilometres, to JHQ Rheindahlen itself.

This shows where the NSSQ's work ended and that of its partners began. The kilometres of field cable the squadron laid in German soil and along the verges, and the mast at Hehn, were two ends of the same chain: a message put on a line at an exercise location could, via the communication centre and the mast, be on the table at another NATO headquarters within a few links. The motto 'the message must get through' applied not only to the line platoon; it applied to the whole chain.

Nothing remains of Hehn. The British left the Ayrshire Barracks North in 1996; the barracks and the mast were demolished, and from 2002 the Borussia-Park with the football stadium of Borussia Mönchengladbach rose on the site. The ACE High network itself was gradually replaced in the eighties and nineties by satellite and fibre-optic links — in the same years in which NORTHAG was disbanded and the NSSQ rolled up its last cable.

— After the ACE High Journal (ace-high-journal.eu) and Lostplace Map, 'NATO Funkstation Mönchen-Gladbach / Hehn ACE-High (AHEZ)' (2025).

6. Strength, Organisation and Self-Reliance

By Dutch standards the NSSQ was a small unit — described in the jubilee article as "a good hundred men". The Dutch order of battle of 1985 makes that more precise: in peacetime 117 servicemen (4 officers, 18 NCOs, 95 other ranks), in wartime to be brought up to 210 (4 officers, 23 NCOs, 183 other ranks), presumably with personnel on extended leave. These figures rest on one well-documented source and accord with the 'good hundred men' of 1981.

How that unit was organised changed with the years. From the Signal Corps archive comes a snapshot from 1964, when the squadron had just arrived at Rheindahlen. It then consisted of:

• – a Signal Headquarters; – a National Cypher Detachment; – two Signal Message Service Troops; – two Heavy Cable Troops; – a Quad & Field Cable Troop. There the unit stands in a nutshell. Two Signal Message Service Troops — the couriers, who in the eighties were still called the 'SMS platoon'. Two Heavy Cable Troops and a Quad & Field Cable Troop — the cable, heavy and light. And its own National Cypher Detachment, for messages from a NATO headquarters travelled encrypted. A good twenty years later, in the 1986 jubilee supplement (chapter 19), it reads staff, line and courier service. The words changed; the core remained: messages and cable.

— Contributed by F. F. M. (Frank) Peersman, Colonel of the Signal Corps (ret.), secretary of the Signal Corps Historical Collection and staff member of its Archive and Library, July 2026.

What set the NSSQ apart was its high degree of self-reliance in maintenance and management. The squadron had its own Property Accounting Officer, a captain comparable to a Dutch S-4, who guarded its own budget. With the exception of personal equipment and weapons there was no usual echeloning: repairs were arranged in-house as far as possible, and what could not be done in-house was contracted out, in cooperation with the JHQ, to Dutch or German civilian firms — one time a vehicle, another time a field kitchen.

7. The Emblem of the NSSQ

The squadron's emblem captures its task and place beautifully. On a round blue shield — blue being the colour of the Signal Corps of the Royal Netherlands Army — stands the Francisca axe in gold, the same throwing axe as NORTHAG's, placing the unit within that headquarters. The axe is crossed by lightning bolts, the classic symbol of the signal corps for fast and reliable communication, and is set over a winged helmet. Around it runs the name "Netherlands Signal Squadron"

with "Rheindahlen" beneath. This colour emblem adorns the cover of this dossier.

About the precise design history — when and by whom the emblem was designed, and whether different versions existed — little can as yet be established through public sources. This is pre-eminently a subject on which former NSSQ men may be able to tell more.

What is certain is the corps badge the men themselves wore. As soldiers of the Signal Troops Regiment they carried on beret and collar patch the emblem of that branch: a helmet above crossed lightning bolts. The helmet recalls the origin of the signal service within the engineers; the lightning stands for the communications. The badge sat on the blue-and-white colours of the branch — the same colours that recur in the squadron's shield and neckerchief. Like all beret badges of the Royal Netherlands Army it rested on a stylised W-shaped clasp, designed in 1945–1946 by Frans Smits.

No colour, but a fanion

When, in preparation for the 2026 reunion, the regiment was asked whether an NSSQ colour still lay somewhere, the answer immediately explained something about the unit's place. A colour of the Netherlands Signal Squadron does not exist, and never has: colours are presented only to regiments and corps. The squadron formed part of the Signal Troops Regiment and thus stood under the colour of that regiment.

That colour is worth a detour, for there is a story on it. The Signal Corps grew out of the Corps of Engineers, where on 18 February 1874 "a separate Detachment of Field Telegraphists" was raised; only on 1 May 1949 did the Signal Corps become an independent regiment. The colour itself was granted in 1974, on the centenary — bearing the battle honour "Rotterdam 1940".

That inscription refers to May 1940, when soldiers of the Signal Corps took part in the fighting against German paratroopers in Rotterdam. Eight signalmen lost their lives. Out of respect and gratitude, the mayor of Rotterdam presented the regiment in 1960 with one of the stone lions of the Koningsbrug — popularly known as the Vierleeuwenbrug (Four Lions Bridge). That lion became the memorial to the fallen of the Signal Corps, and it has stood on the colour ever since. In 2019 King Willem-Alexander granted the regiment the right to add a second battle honour: "Southern Afghanistan 2006-2010".

For this story the chronology is a nice touch. When the squadron was raised in 1961, this colour did not yet exist. It arrived in 1974, halfway through the unit's career; in the service years of this dossier's compiler, 1980–1981, it was six years old and still bore only "Rotterdam 1940". The squadron thus stood for thirty-seven years under a colour it never carried itself — and which it knew for only half of its existence.

One thing falls into place with that regiment. The motto that recurs throughout this dossier — "the message must get through" — was not invented by the squadron. It is the Dutch rendering of the regimental motto of the Signal Corps: Nuntius Transmittendus. The squadron carried it not as its own device, but as the device of the branch to which it belonged. That makes it no less theirs — it only makes it older and greater.

The regiment still exists, and the colour is still carried. Since 2021 Colonel Collin van Loon has been regimental commander. He is assisted in his regimental duties by Regimental Adjutant Ursus de Laat, who at ceremonies also fulfils the honourable role of colour bearer. The regiment is based at the Generaal-majoor Kootkazerne at Stroe.

The cradle of the Signal Corps, however, lay elsewhere, and much closer to home than Rheindahlen: in Ede. Practically everyone who served with the squadron was trained there. On 1 November 1951 the 2nd Signal Troops Regiment was raised in the Simon Stevin barracks, which had stood there since the late 1930s. In 1954 the first and second regiments were merged and a depot was created to provide all the corps' training. The cadre course for conscript NCOs and the Reserve Officers' School of the Signal Corps were housed in the Simon Stevin barracks. As conscript numbers grew, the neighbouring Elias Beeckman barracks also came into use by the corps; there the other ranks — the linemen and switchboard operators — received their training. Finally, in 1967, the technical training moved from the Hojel barracks in Utrecht to Ede, bringing all the army's signals training onto one site. The name then became Signal Corps Training Centre — the VOC for short.

For this dossier that is no aside. The 1981 jubilee article, on which large parts of this story rest, was written by Warrant Officer A. M. de Gouw — of the VOC at Ede. The man who came to describe the squadron in Germany came from the school its readers came from.

And Ede, too, is now a closed book. Around 2010 military activities at both barracks ceased; on 1 January 2011 the Ministry of Defence transferred the site to the municipality of Ede, which redeveloped it as a residential area. Of the places that figure in this story, not one is still what it was — not Ede, not the Cannerberg, and Rheindahlen least of all. With this difference: at Rheindahlen exercises are now held once more (see chapter 20), while in Ede, on the spot where the signalmen were formed, people now simply live.

— After the website of the Signal Troops Regiment (verbindingsdienst.nl) and the history of the barracks at Ede, consulted July 2026. The names and posts of regimental commander and regimental adjutant reflect the situation as of July 2026.

What does exist lies in Amersfoort, in the Signal Corps Historical Collection: the squadron's fanion. Dark blue velvet with gold edging, in gold embroidery the name NETHERLANDS SIGNAL SQUADRON in an arc, and beneath it the helmet with lightning bolts of the Signal Corps.

And with that, after all the questions about the design history, one expert judgement does reach the table. Colonel Peersman, who manages the collection, adds: "By the look of it a home-made piece from long ago, witness the strange shapes of the lightning bolts." The fanion is thus presumably not an officially commissioned piece, but something the unit had made itself — by someone who had to embroider the emblem from memory or from a drawing, and got the bolts just a little different from how they ought to be.

That, if you think about it, is exactly fitting for this unit. A squadron that built its own canteen, knocked together its own bar, maintained its own vehicles and cooked its own pea soup, made its own fanion too.

— With thanks to F. F. M. (Frank) Peersman, Colonel of the Signal Corps (ret.), secretary of the Signal Corps Historical Collection and staff member of its Archive and Library, July 2026, via Stefan van Nijmweegen.

Gallery — Emblems and Memorabilia

Emblems, wall shields, pennants, neckerchiefs and beer mugs — the tangible memories of the squadron.

8. Equipment and Vehicles

The NSSQ's special character was also reflected in its equipment, which differed markedly from what was usual in the Netherlands. In 1966 the jeeps were replaced by Land Rovers and the old lorries by new DAF three-tonners with closed metal cabs. Fifteen years later, at the time of the 1981 jubilee, several German makes were gradually changing that picture, among them the Unimog.

Because the unit was stationed in Germany, its vehicle fleet was fully 'Germanised': the vehicles came under German inspection standards — the TÜV system, with main inspection and brake inspection — which differed from Dutch practice. The Dutch MIO inspection system accordingly did not apply to these vehicles. The growing number of vehicle types noticeably increased the maintenance group's workload, if only because the stock of spare parts had to grow considerably as a result.

One element of that 'Germanisation' calls for a correction — and the source contradicts itself on the point. The 1981 jubilee article writes that the complete Germanisation "is evident above all from the German number plates of the vehicles", and captions the photograph of a Unimog 'Fully Germanised'. Yet the registration of that very Unimog reads X-4489. And that is precisely not a German number plate.

For in Germany the letter X was reserved for a very specific category. From 1 March 1967, "the service vehicles of the international military headquarters established under the North Atlantic Treaty with a permanent station in Germany" carried a registration with the letter X, followed by a four-digit number — black digits on a white plate. An X plate bore no German flag and no place code, unlike an ordinary German registration and unlike the Y plates of the Bundeswehr, which carry the black-red-gold flag. The X number was, in short, not a German registration but the NATO registration. The numbers in the picture archive fit that four-digit pattern exactly: X-4489 on the Unimog in the 1981 jubilee publication, and X 3628 on a Unimog in the 1986 jubilee booklet.

That the squadron's vehicles carried that registration is therefore no mere detail but a confirmation: the NSSQ drove around as part of an international NATO headquarters, NORTHAG. That the plates nevertheless felt 'German' is easily explained. They were issued by a German authority — the Zentrale Militärkraftfahrstelle on the Hardter Straße in Mönchengladbach-Rheindahlen, a few kilometres from the JHQ — they bore the embossed seal 'Bundeswehr Zulassungsstelle' with the Bundesadler, and the X vehicles did have to pass the German inspection, whose sticker went on the rear number plate. It was precisely that last point that distinguished X from Y: Bundeswehr vehicles were inspected internally, NATO vehicles went to the TÜV. The Germanisation, then, lay in the rules and the inspection — not in the number plate.

— Correction contributed by Stefan van Nijmweegen, July 2026. Regulations: Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung, Anlage 3 (distinguishing sign X); see Appendix B.

Gallery — Vehicles

The 'Germanised' fleet: from Land Rover and DAF three-tonner to Unimog.

9. The Work: Cable by the Kilometre

The squadron's core task lay with the line platoon. On exercise that meant: many dozens of kilometres of cable had to be in place before the exercise began, and that cable had to be guarded and, where necessary, replaced while it ran. It involved enormous quantities of leaden-heavy cable on drums, which two men could barely roll along a paved road. For moving that heavy material the unit had vehicles with tail lifts and a trailer.

When the jubilee article was being prepared, the line platoon was about to leave for the English Midlands for an international exercise. The platoon commander, Warrant Officer W. E. Rovroy, spoke with visible appreciation of the dedication of his men, who on exercise worked flat out until the job was done:

"On exercises we are present well in advance, with the many dozens of kilometres of cable that must be in place when the exercise begins. This cable must also be guarded and/or replaced during the exercise. (…) Making overhead spans is more enjoyable work for us than in the Netherlands, because we have German military equipment specially built for it."

That the line platoon crossed the sea for it was part of the job. The squadron exercised regularly in Great Britain. A concrete example is the summer of 1979: from Antwerp a detachment sailed by landing ship to Scarborough, to exercise from there right across England as far as York — an international exercise, together with the British 35 Regiment. The crossing by ship, in fine summer weather, stayed with the participants for a long time.

Gallery — Cable and Signals Equipment

The signalman's tools: cable drums, masts and field equipment.

10. The Dispatch Riders — "The Message Must Get Through"

Besides laying lines, the NSSQ provided the dispatch and courier service for the headquarters. That was no side issue: according to the later jubilee booklet, the courier or 'Special Message Service' platoon rode some 300,000 kilometres a year. It is plausible that confidential documents were carried in the process — that is the normal function of a headquarters courier.

It was precisely in the radio age that this courier function remained indispensable. Not everything could or was allowed to travel over the air: top-secret documents, maps, orders and code books went more safely from hand to hand than through the ether, and in radio silence or breakdown a dispatch rider was often the only link that remained. For a headquarters like Rheindahlen, where messages were constantly passing between national staffs, NATO staffs and supporting units, that was daily fare. It fitted the unit's motto seamlessly: the message must get through.

The classic bearer of that work was the motorcycle dispatch rider. In the Royal Netherlands Army of the sixties and seventies he rode the Triumph 3TA, a version built specially for the Netherlands, of which well over eleven hundred were purchased. Towards the end of the seventies a replacement was sought; the choice fell — after weighing it against the BMW R45 — on the Italian Moto Guzzi V50 NATO, of which nearly fourteen hundred were built for the army. In the service years of this dossier's compiler, around 1980–1981, that was thus the picture: the Triumph on its way out, the Moto Guzzi on the rise — no BMW or Yamaha, as is sometimes thought. The role itself formally endured for a long time yet: only around 2004 did the motorcycle dispatch rider disappear as a separate task, when reliable, secure radio and data networks had taken over his role almost entirely. Whether the NSSQ's courier platoon covered its 300,000 kilometres a year mainly by motorcycle or by van and staff car cannot be said with certainty from the sources; the above sketches the general picture in the army.

The courier vehicles

The motorcycle dispatch rider was only one face of the message service. Most of the courier work was done by car. The squadron had a fleet of passenger cars — predominantly Fords — with which the couriers drove the hundreds of thousands of kilometres, day in day out, between the headquarters and the signals locations. For cross-country work there were also light field cars, such as the Volkswagen 181 (the 'Kurierwagen') and Land Rovers.

11. Life With the Squadron

Daily existence with the NSSQ differed noticeably from that at an ordinary Dutch unit. The squadron had no guard duty of its own and no fire picket; the only internal duty was fatigues in the international soldiers' mess. Guarding the complex itself was entrusted to special British units. The international, 'British-run' character was noticeable everywhere: the official designations and the internal correspondence alike were in English.

Despite the tight tasking there was room for relaxation and camaraderie. The squadron organised its own parents' day every year and offered ample opportunities for sport — up to and including parachute jumping. Anyone who wished could learn to ski during the winter camp; for that purpose the NSSQ possessed eighty complete ski outfits, so that family members could come along too. And the unit had a social heart: in eighteen months its personnel raised the money for no fewer than twenty-six guide dogs for the blind.

For most of the men Rheindahlen was the backdrop to their national service. British servicemen generally lived with their families in 'married quarters'; personnel of the other nationalities mostly lived outside the complex in the surrounding villages. Regular soldiers without families could live in the English mess, while the conscripts were housed in huts close to the NSSQ.

The room at JHQ Rheindahlen — 1981

A Dutch NCO at JHQ Rheindahlen had his own room in a single-storey accommodation building — one of the long, low "accommodation blocks" scattered among the lawns. From the central entrance one walked into the corridor, with rooms on either side; at the end of the corridor were the communal showers and baths. The room itself was simple but comfortable: a desk, a sitting corner with sofa and armchair, a wardrobe and a washbasin. Many a man brought his own television from home and so made the room a little more his own.

For meals one walked to the British Sergeants' Mess, where waiters in white jackets with gold piping attended the tables. It gave daily military life an atmosphere all of its own — Rheindahlen felt more like a small campus than a barracks, with wide roads, many trees and detached buildings among the lawns. In the evening one could even watch British television: JHQ Rheindahlen was the distribution point of the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) for the whole Rhine Army sector. In 1981 this still meant programmes flown in from England on tape; the direct link with London only came at the end of 1982. Details of this kind are to be found in no official archive — which is exactly why they belong here.

The accommodation of the conscript personnel

Where the NCOs had a room in an accommodation block, the conscripts were housed in huts close to the squadron — the "sleeping blocks for the soldiers" the first commanding officer already spoke of when the unit still lay at St. Tönis. The 1986 jubilee supplement calls them soberly "a few blocks for conscript sleeping accommodation".

The photographs from the picture archive show what lay behind that. A room with a bunk bed or a single bed, a table and chairs, a wardrobe with its doors standing open, a coat rack on the wall. And besides that, what the men made of it themselves: a television in the corner, a complete stereo stack on the table, posters, an ashtray, a newspaper. Whoever came in with his kitbag over his shoulder settled in for the duration of his service.

It is exactly the kind of space that appears in no organisation chart and that nevertheless determined how those months were remembered.

What you were issued — the PSU

With the accommodation came an outfit. What a conscript wore on his body and carried in his pack was recorded, down to the last item, on a single form: the receipt/issue form PSU code 7401. Fifty-eight lines, from mug and water bottle to pioneer spade, from two pairs of combat boots to four army-green handkerchiefs. At the bottom, the sum: seventy-nine items, to be signed for on receipt and handed back on departure.

It is the most sober conceivable summary of a period of service — and at the same time a complete portrait of how a man was turned out in those years.

Pink cake and Kaiserbrötchen

Anyone stationed for years in a foreign country gets to know that country through the smallest things — and to miss his own through things smaller still. For the Dutchmen at Rheindahlen that line ran straight through their daily food. On one side the

Netherlands they had left behind; on the other the German Rhineland in which they were guests. Two worlds, each with its own roll on the counter.

On the Dutch side belonged the roze koek — that flat little cake glazed with bright pink icing. In the Netherlands it always lay ready in the catering display cases at the barracks in Ede: typically Dutch, and unforgettable precisely because of its triviality. It was no delicacy to write home about, and for exactly that reason it wás home — a bite of Holland with the coffee. For many a conscript it was precisely the kind of detail he would later, back in the Netherlands, recall with a smile.

On the German side stood the Kaiserbrötchen — the crusty roll, scored in six, of every German baker. You did not even have to leave the gate for it: Rheindahlen was a complete community, a town in itself, with small bread shops of that kind everywhere. There the quintessentially German roll with a slice of salami and a few gherkins went over the counter by far the most. It was the daily bread of the country in which the unit was stationed.

And so the men ate their way through two cultures — the pink cake from the display case in Ede and the salami roll from the German bread shop around the corner. It is the kind of detail that appears in no annual report, but that at a reunion still surfaces first.

Vigilance — SOXMIS and the bomb threat

That Rheindahlen lay on the front line of the Cold War was brought home to the men not only by exercises. They carried it in their pockets. Since the Robertson-Malinin agreement of 16 September 1946 a Soviet military mission had been accredited to the British Rhine Army — SOXMIS — which was legally allowed to move about the British zone, just as its British counterpart BRIXMIS could in Potsdam. What began as a liaison service grew into mutual, tacitly tolerated espionage. The missions endured until 1990.

Every serviceman was therefore issued a card. On the front, the number plate he had to recognise, with the red flag with hammer and sickle: "If you see such a number plate, you are dealing with a SOXMIS vehicle. Report this fact as soon as possible to your COMMANDING OFFICER." On the back was what he had to report: time and place, colour and make of the vehicle, the registration, the number of occupants and their clothing, whether the vehicle was moving or stationary, and what the occupants were doing — "taking notes, photographing etc.". And at the bottom, in bold: "Delay in your report reduces the value of your observation."

From the eighties a second threat was added, one that lay closer to home. After the attacks on the complex, warnings hung everywhere to check under the car before getting in. The poster below was printed by the British Ordnance Services at Viersen, less than twenty kilometres from Rheindahlen.

Two threats, then, from two very different quarters — and for the men of the squadron both as everyday as the courier's timetable booklet.

Gallery — Exercise and Daily Life

The real work took place in the field — with, alongside it, the necessary moments of relaxation.

12. Reforger '87 — Certain Strike

From 1969 to 1993 NATO held a large annual exercise called Reforger — in full, Return of Forces to Germany. The idea behind it was as simple as it was essential: should the Warsaw Pact attack Western Europe, the United States had to be able to bring large numbers of troops to West Germany within days. To make that possible, the American units flew over without their heavy equipment; that stood ready in heavily guarded depots — the so-called POMCUS storage — spread across West Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. On arrival the troops only had to collect their equipment and could take the field almost at once. Reforger was thus no show of force for the gallery, but the actual reinforcement exercise on which the alliance would fall back in the event of war.

In the autumn of 1987 Reforger '87 took place, under the code name Certain Strike. About thirty-four thousand troops of the American III Corps were brought from Fort Hood in Texas to northern Germany. Combined with the units of the Northern Army Group, this produced an exercise force of some eighty thousand troops from Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and West Germany. The actual field exercise was held from 13 to 24 September 1987, in the area around Nienburg, Walsrode and Verden.

For Rheindahlen this exercise was special. Certain Strike was the first Reforger to be held entirely in the area of the Northern Army Group; all previous editions had taken place in the more southerly Central Army Group (CENTAG). It was in fact the first major field exercise at army group level in the NORTHAG sector since 1954. And NORTHAG's headquarters was JHQ Rheindahlen — the very complex where the NSSQ performed its signals task. The planning and direction of an operation of this scale thus ran straight through the organisation in which the men of the squadron worked every day. It happened, moreover, in a tense atmosphere: less than six months earlier, in March 1987, the IRA car bomb had exploded on the site, after which security had been tightened considerably.

In all this the Netherlands played the role of host country. On Dutch soil lay several POMCUS depots — among others near Brunssum, Eygelshoven, Ter Apel, Coevorden and Vriezenveen — and the movement and transit of thousands of vehicles and troops ran through the country. For weeks, long military columns rolled along Dutch roads, escorted by military and civil police. For many Dutch people Reforger thus became as visible as it was for the servicemen themselves.

For the NSSQ an exercise on this scale meant above all one thing: communications, and a great many of them. A field exercise covering the whole NORTHAG area leaned heavily on cable, radio relay, radio traffic and couriers — precisely what the squadron existed for. How large the NSSQ's share in Certain Strike was exactly cannot be reconstructed man by man from the surviving sources, but the unit's motto — 'the message must get through' — took on its full meaning during such an operation.

Reforger '87 also lives on in personal memories. The commemorative crest above, supplied by a former NSSQ member, keeps the event tangible — as do the words of those who were there.

Reforger '87 — three memories from Rense Boersma

In September 1987 REFORGER '87 took place, the annual NATO exercise which that year carried the code name 'Certain Strike' and counted as one of the largest troop movements to West Germany since the Second World War. Conscript corporal Rense Boersma (intake 87-2) served with the squadron during that exercise and recorded three memories — the kind of stories that reveal the daily life behind the great exercise.

The F-16s over Soest. For three weeks the staff section lay on top of a hill near the German town of Soest, at a deserted barracks. One of the lieutenants of the courier platoon had earlier been withdrawn from pilot training with the Air Force and then posted to the NSSQ. One morning the camp was startled by an infernal noise: F-16s skimming overhead — former classmates of the lieutenant. The vehicles seemed well camouflaged, but on the aerial photographs that came in after the exercise even the number plates were still legible.

Duty trip to the IAA. Together with the cooks and the supply sergeant, Boersma drove one day during the exercise to the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung in Frankfurt. As servicemen they got a reduced entry rate, and on the manufacturers' stands they were thoroughly pampered as NATO soldiers — quite an experience.

The 'disco dress'. When the girlfriends of Boersma and of a fellow conscript came to visit, they were allowed off the site — but only in service dress (DT). So they visited a discotheque in uniform; from that moment on the service dress was known as the 'disco dress'. The other patrons eyed them with a more than questioning look.

Recorded by conscript corporal Rense Boersma, intake 87-2.

13. Club 62 — The Squadron's Mess Club

A squadron is more than work and equipment. It is also the place where young conscripts, far from home, spent their off-duty hours. At JHQ Rheindahlen almost every unit had its own meeting place, and the Netherlands Signal Squadron was no exception. Club 62 was the Dutchmen's club: a bar of their own with stools, tables and chairs, where after duty they gathered for a beer, a game of cards and the inevitable tall story.

As was customary among the Dutch units on the base, the club was run by the soldiers themselves. They took turns behind the bar; whoever did his shift there belonged completely, if only for a while. It was the squadron's living room — the place where rank and station briefly mattered less, and where intakes that otherwise scarcely met stood together at the tap.

(To be supplemented with the men's recollections: when the club came into being, where the name '62' comes from — the wooden wall shield of the squadron forms the figures 6 and 2 —, who ruled the roost and which stories did the rounds.)

14. Sport and Exercise Beyond the Barracks

Not all the NSSQ's exercises took place in the mud of the summer woods. Every year the squadron also headed for the hills, to the German Sauerland, for the winter sports exercise known as 'Winterspin'. The destination was Winterberg — with its ski lifts and the characteristic St. Georg ski jump one of the best-known winter sports resorts of North Rhine-Westphalia, within driving distance of Rheindahlen.

Alongside ordinary field duty there was room for sport and special activities: winter sports in the Sauerland, the Nijmegen Four Days Marches, football and parachute jumping.

Winterspin — skiing at Winterberg

Winter sports simply belonged to squadron life. The 1981 jubilee publication says so in as many words: the NSSQ possessed eighty complete ski outfits, and during the winter camp servicemen — and even their family members — could learn to ski. Whoever had never stood on skis was given lessons; whoever already could made a sporting week of it. They went cross-country skiing through the snowy pine forests and downhill on the pistes beneath the drag lifts.

The Nijmegen Four Days Marches

The squadron also took part in the Nijmegen Four Days Marches. In military teams the men completed the four days — a tradition in which units from all over NORTHAG took part. In 1987 the NSSQ marched as part of the 'NORTHAG Marching Team'.

Football

A kickabout was part of it too. The squadron had its own football eleven — the 'Snikkels' — which took on teams from other units on the base. The name returns on the light-blue football pennant in the Emblems gallery.

Parachute jumping

And there was parachute jumping. That, too, was among the things the men of the squadron did alongside their actual work.

Anyone who wished could learn to jump. The 1981 jubilee article mentions parachute jumping without ceremony as one of the sports the squadron offered its men — somewhere between the skiing and the football. For those who did it, it was anything but.

The jumps were made at Teuge, and at the Belgian air base of Zutendaal just across the border near Maastricht. Years later Ton Hensen posted a photograph of four jumpers by the aircraft on Facebook, with a caption that captures the feeling better than any description.

'Oh yes, this was a hot item at the NSSQ too: parachute jumping. Cost a lot of clean underwear in those days.'

— Ton Hensen, on the photograph above

It jumped across all ranks. Among those four jumpers stands the company sergeant major himself: WO A. Pellegrom — the same man who appears in chapter 15 with the red lanyard of honour on his right shoulder. And the sergeants jumped too. In the photograph below, Gerard Worm stands in jump gear on the drop zone at Zutendaal, reserve parachute on his chest and behind him the board on which the jumps were recorded.

It did not always go well. In May 1981 Gerard Worm broke his leg on a jump. Six weeks later, in July, he was back at Rheindahlen.

A small contradiction hangs on that fall, and it stays here because it is simply in the sources. Fons Maathuis — see chapter 16 — remembers coming to Rheindahlen as Worm's replacement, and that Worm had only just returned when he arrived. But Maathuis came in February 1981, well before the jump. Two memories that do not quite match. What they do tell together is how it turned out: that summer three sergeants sat at one desk, and that proved a little too much of a good thing.

15. The Leadership

A unit is more than its task and its equipment: it is carried by the people who lead it. At the NSSQ that was a small, close-knit staff of regular officers and NCOs who often remained attached to the squadron for years. They formed the continuity behind the ever-changing intakes of conscripts who came to Rheindahlen for their national service and departed again.

At its head stood the squadron commander, usually a major. The first was Major — later Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) — C. Salomons, who built the unit up from its founding on 1 November 1961 at Bergen op Zoom. Around the twenty-fifth anniversary, in the mid-eighties, Major E. R. van Noortwijk was squadron commander. Beside the commander, the squadron sergeant major formed the second pivot: as the senior NCO he was responsible for the daily running of the unit, discipline and the welfare of the men. A complete overview of all commanders and sergeants major since the founding is shown below and set out in Appendix D.

Under the commander and the sergeant major worked the platoon commanders, each at the head of one of the specialist platoons — the line platoon, the courier and dispatch service and the supporting services. They were the leaders with whom the conscript signalmen dealt daily, in barracks and in the field during the great NATO exercises.

Photo session — Warrant Officer Benny Rovroy

One name recurs constantly in the memories of the former NSSQ men: that of Warrant Officer W. E. ('Benny') Rovroy, commander of the line platoon. In the 1981 jubilee article he spoke with visible appreciation of the dedication of his men, who on exercise worked flat out until the job was done. For many who served under him he was more than a superior. He was regarded as a remarkable man — devoted to his people and loved by the men — who is remembered with warmth to this day.

His name, and the stories and winged sayings that belong to him, still do the rounds at the reunions and in the squadron's Facebook group. Many former NSSQ men, moreover, still keep in personal touch with him. The photographs below come from that circle.

"I'll kick you a blue ball."

— the winged saying of Warrant Officer Rovroy

The red lanyard of honour

Among the marks of appreciation that lived within the squadron, the red lanyard of honour held a special place. It is not a state decoration but a token of appreciation: a personal mark of esteem that a commander can himself award to a serviceman under his command. Whoever wore it stood out — a red cord on the shoulder amid all the uniform green. The Royal Netherlands Army describes it to this day as follows:

"The Red Lanyard of Honour is awarded to servicemen who perform their organic duties and their function as soldiers in the general sense

with excellence. The Red Lanyard of Honour is an individual mark of appreciation which a commander may award to a serviceman under

his command." — Royal Netherlands Army, on the red lanyard of honour

Within the Netherlands Signal Squadron, too, a few servicemen wore the red cord. The best known was the company sergeant major, WO A. Pellegrom, who wears the cord on his right shoulder in the photograph below. Exactly when he received it can no longer be established with certainty, but within the squadron he was held up as an example. Also mentioned are, among others, Arie van Westerop and Frank van Schaik of Valkenswaard — draughtsman and photographer of the staff platoon and Pellegrom's right-hand man — who according to fellow veterans was one of the first conscript corporals to be distinguished with the red cord. A soldier from the garage, who had come to Rheindahlen for quite another purpose but supported the workshop superbly, is also said to have received the cord. Their names are being recovered piece by piece, partly through the reunions and the Facebook group.

Appie Pellegrom — as everyone called him — was born on 17 July 1938 and died on 30 November 2012 in Ede, aged seventy-four. In the memory of the former NSSQ men he is strict but fair, and much loved; several of them attended his funeral.

The names mentioned here rest on the memories of former NSSQ men and are still being verified; this list will be further supplemented in the run-up to the reunion.

16. Voices From the Eighties

A history of buildings and organisation charts remains incomplete without the people. The jubilee publications mention a number of them by name. Besides Warrant Officer W. E. Rovroy, commander of the line platoon, there was the company sergeant major, WO A. Pellegrom, who carried out the squadron's own distinctive CSM duties. Sergeant I. J. Boer was charged with maintenance and the varied vehicle types, and Warrant Officer v.d. Hout demonstrated with his parachute jumps — the first ended in a tree — that perseverance was no matter of age.

Around the twenty-fifth anniversary, in the mid-eighties, the squadron was commanded by Major E. R. van Noortwijk. In an extensive 'Unit of the Month' article the NSSQ was then introduced to a wider public as a unique army unit in an international environment.

This dossier stands in the same tradition: it is ultimately a story by and for the people who served there. In a later version, personal portraits and recollections may be added here.

Fons Maathuis — 'three sergeants was a little too much of a good thing'

Fons Maathuis served from February 1981 to February 1982 as a conscript sergeant with the NSSQ. He came as the replacement for Gerard Worm, who had broken a leg parachute jumping — but when Maathuis arrived at Rheindahlen, Worm had just returned. Three sergeants at one desk proved a little too much of a good thing, and so Maathuis was given a post with the HOT under Major Meyer. Together with Warrant Officer Dimmers he was responsible there for the service housing of the regular and short-term-volunteer soldiers living in the area.

Yet he gladly went into the field. He once served as quartermaster for the reservists at a barracks in Liège, and he called the half-yearly exercise for newcomers magnificent. With the conscript cadre they once organised a night drop there: groups of soldiers were set down in the dark forest under the lead of a regular or short-term-volunteer corporal, while the cadre members combed that same forest to track them down. It ended in fierce mock firefights, complete with smoke, practice mines, tear gas and trip wires. Dennis Steggink was there too.

— Fons Maathuis, conscript sergeant with the NSSQ, 1981–1982 (via the Facebook group NSSQ Rheindahlen). Editorial note: Gerard Worm broke his leg in May 1981 and was back after six weeks, in July. Maathuis joined the squadron in February 1981 — before the fall, then. The reason for his coming can therefore not have been the broken leg; both memories stand here as they were told. See also chapter 14.

Gallery — The People and the Unit

Group photos, parades and roll calls through the years — the face of the squadron.

17. Twenty Years of the NSSQ — 1 November 1981

On 1 November 1981 the squadron celebrated its twentieth anniversary: two decades of Dutch signals support within NATO. In the jubilee article the unit was congratulated for four reasons that neatly sum up what the NSSQ stood for. The squadron had proved equal to the tasks assigned to it; it enjoyed international esteem; it had 'sold' the Dutch soldier well on the spot; and it had fulfilled its tasks with conviction under the signals motto: "the message must get through".

That motto was more than a slogan. It summed up the unit's reason for being. In a headquarters that in wartime had to direct four army corps, everything depended on communications that kept working. It was the cables, the couriers and the people of the NSSQ that ensured the message, quite literally, got through. Five years later, in 1986, followed the twenty-fifth jubilee, from which a large part of the source material for this dossier derives.

The jubilee article of 1981

Below follows the complete text of the jubilee article that WO A. M. de Gouw (VOC Ede) wrote on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary. The text has been taken over verbatim; the original pages are included as facsimiles in Appendix E.

NETHERLANDS SIGNAL SQUADRON A Dutch army unit in foreign parts

On the way in search of the above-named unit, driving on West German soil after the border crossing at Venlo in the direction of Mönchen-Gladbach, the wooded agricultural landscape undergoes a metamorphosis, as it were. Suddenly one is driving on neatly laid asphalt roads, with perfectly kept lawns left and right! One does notice that proportionally more military traffic uses the roads, and many private cars carry English nationality markings. The street name Queens Avenue, finally, feels distinctly uncanny; enquiry of a passer-by, however, quickly brings the answer. Without having noticed the very sparsely placed signs, one finds oneself in the NATO headquarters Rheindahlen, the peacetime location of a number of staffs of the Western defence community. These staffs are:

HQ NORTHAG — Headquarters Northern Army Group HQ 2 ATAF — Headquarters 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force HQ RAF GERMANY — Headquarters Royal Air Force Germany HQ BA OR — Headquarters British Army on the Rhine With one of these staffs, incidentally, a Dutch unit is incorporated in the organisation — the unit brought to the reader's attention in this article: the Netherlands Signal Squadron (NSSQ).

NSSQ This purely Dutch army unit, with a strength of a good hundred men, performs a fixed, defined set of signals tasks within the framework of the NATO organisation. As far as I know it is the only army unit with a squadron designation. The NSSQ is of more recent date than NORTHAG, which was established in 1952. Only in 1961 did the actual formation begin at Bergen op Zoom — no easy start, incidentally. Tradition still has it that every Dutch unit had to hand over a few jeeps which the NSSQ needed for the fulfilment of its tasks. Which jeeps those were is easy to guess: truly the worst examples that could be found were made available, with all the unpleasant consequences that entailed. Only in 1966 were these jeeps replaced by Land Rovers, which meant an enormous improvement. The housing of the personnel also proceeded with great difficulty. After initially being situated elsewhere in the area, the NSSQ was moved in 1963 to JHQ Rheindahlen, where it is still to be found (JHQ = Joint Headquarters).

Different nationalities Providing the communications for Staff NORTHAG is not solely a Dutch affair. The NSSQ provides only the dispatch and line communications at the war and exercise locations. Besides these facilities, a staff like NORTHAG also needs a number of other means of communication. All radio communications are provided by the Belgian 13 (BE) Cie TTr (Troupe de Transmission). All radio-relay/carrier links are provided by the German 840 (GE) Sig Bn (Fernmelde Bataljon). All communication centres as well as the troposcatter links are provided by the British 28 (BR) Sig Regt. All ground-to-air communications are provided by the internationally manned ASRS (Air Support Radio Squadron). In short, four nationalities carrying out the service task in a mutual cooperative arrangement, in which three nations have no problems. Contacts with the German population are no exception to this.

Under the direct command of NORTHAG The NSSQ has two chains of command, of which the tactical-operational chain is the most important. The principal in this chain is C-NORTHAG SIGNALS SUPPORT GROUP, who also commands the allied signals units mentioned above. The second, administrative chain is for the application of criminal and disciplinary law, pay, food, clothing and the like. The principal here is C-Netherlands Administrative Corps Mönchen-Gladbach.

Big House Centrally placed, on a location easily accessible from many sides, is the so-called BIG HOUSE. Although the enormous building — kept very low in its construction (3 storeys, 1 of them below ground) — appears accessible to anyone who cares to enter, the opposite is true. Without special passes, entry is refused without exception, and the staff are only prepared to summon the person one wishes to speak to down to one of the many exits. The NSSQ, incidentally, is not housed in the Big House. A number of NSSQ servicemen do, however, have access to the building by virtue of their duties. The commanding unit under which the NSSQ directly falls is also housed in the building. All in all a gigantic edifice in which, owing to the organisational make-up of most of the staffs that mainly have their home there, English is spoken. That such a staff has its own helicopter facilities at hand almost goes without saying.

Francisca axe Army Group North (NORTHAG) was formed in 1952 from a British, a Belgian and a Dutch army corps with its headquarters at Bad Oeynhausen, and moved in 1954 to Rheindahlen; there the group was joined with the three headquarters mentioned in the introduction. In 1957 NORTHAG was completed by the addition of a German army corps. During the construction of a headquarters at Rheindahlen a Frankish battle axe was found, a so-called throwing axe or Francisca. This axe became the emblem of Army Group North and is a symbol of the victory that a united army won in Western Europe in the year 451 over an attacker from the East.

A high degree of self-support The NSSQ, unlike most other comparable units, has a high degree of independence as regards maintenance and repairs. The unit (a good 100 men) has its own Property Accounting Officer, an official in the rank of captain comparable to a Dutch S-4. His task includes guarding the squadron's own budget, monitoring the spending pattern, annual adjustment for inflationary effects, and so on.

With the exception of personal kit and weapons, no echeloning applies to the unit: all repairs that arise are handled in-house as far as possible. What cannot be done in-house is contracted out, in cooperation with the JHQ, to Dutch or German civilian firms — this time a vehicle, next time a field kitchen, and so on.

Vehicle fleet As regards the vehicles, the difference is expressed not only in the repair system; the types are often totally different from the normal Dutch military motor vehicles. As already mentioned, the Land Rovers were taken into use in 1966; in the same year the lorries then in use were replaced by new DAF three-tonners with closed metal cabs. Now, fifteen years later, several German makes are gradually changing that. The number of vehicle types, which has risen considerably in recent years, clearly gives the maintenance group more work, if only because the spare-parts stock had to grow substantially. Sgt I. J. Boer, the official charged with these maintenance troubles, made clear that the sometimes widely differing versions of a given type also cause their share of problems. As an example he cited the Land Rover, of which in principle one type is available. The differences between the various versions, however, are so great that beneath the outwardly identical bodywork practically completely different cars turn out to be driving. Thus it can happen that for a lost fuel cap the entire neck of the petrol tank has to be replaced, because such a fuel cap can no longer be had anywhere.

The inspection system, too, differs greatly from the Dutch: the vehicles fall under the German TÜV and brake inspections in accordance with the legal standards applicable there. The complete 'Germanisation' is evident above all from the German number plates of the vehicles. Because they legally fall under the (much stricter) German inspection system, the MIO inspection system does not apply to these vehicles; the MIO team does come, but inspects only on request and then in an advisory capacity. The vehicle administration usual in the Netherlands is not used here either; for the drivers' convenience only the driving order is kept. The BOS articles are obtained from the English.

Editorial note: "the German number plates of the vehicles" stands thus in the original, but is not correct. The squadron carried X numbers, and in Germany the X was reserved precisely for the international NATO headquarters — not a German registration, then. The photograph accompanying this very article shows it itself: caption 'Fully Germanised', registration X-4489. See chapter 8.

No guard, no fire picket Naturally the CSM's duties differ greatly from a post at another Dutch unit, although that in itself is not so exceptional. There are, after all, many more units that deviate from the average picture, with correspondingly deviating posts. WO A. Pellegrom, company sergeant major with the NSSQ, has it rather easy as regards guard duty, fire picket and the like; the CSM of the NSSQ has nothing to do with any of that. The only duty performed is fatigues in the (international) soldiers' dining hall. Guarding of the complex is done by special British units.

On the departure of high dignitaries it is customary at Rheindahlen to hold a march-past. Each nationality represented here then provides a detachment. Unlike the allies, who assemble units recruited from an élite corps or guards regiment of their own, the Netherlands in such cases contributes personnel from the NSSQ. Understandably, assembling it sometimes takes some doing, especially in the present day when one intake has service dress with high boots and another does not, one intake has a jumper and another does not (etc.).

The NSSQ knows many activities and organises its own parents' day every year. There are also many opportunities to practise sport, provided duty permits. Besides various branches of sport there is the so-called Winter Camp, where servicemen and their family members can learn to ski. The NSSQ possesses 80 complete ski outfits. Socially minded they evidently are as well: the squadron's personnel raised the money needed for no fewer than 26 (!) guide dogs for the blind within eighteen months.

Cable by the kilometre When this article was being prepared, the line platoon was about to leave for the English Midlands as part of an international exercise. Warrant Officer W. E. Rovroy, commander of the platoon, expresses his satisfaction with the dedication of his men. When he relates that his personnel work flat out on exercises and do not rest until the job is done (laying out the cable), it commands great admiration for the dedication of these men. Certainly when the enormous quantities of leaden-heavy cable are shown, wound on drums that two men can barely roll along a paved road. Warrant Officer Rovroy:

'On exercises we are present well in advance, with the many dozens of kilometres of cable that must be in place when the exercise begins. This cable must also be guarded and/or replaced during the exercise. Because the cables must be movable, vehicles with tail lifts are available for the transport of this heavy material. A trailer is also at hand, for carrying large quantities at once. Making overhead spans is more enjoyable work for us than in the Netherlands, because we have German military equipment specially built for it.'

Military village Rheindahlen may safely be called a military village, of which the centrally placed Big House has already been noted. Everything here is so-called 'British run', which means among other things that the official designations of the international military units stationed here are set in English. Correspondence among them is also conducted in that language, as is uniform within NATO. Besides the staffs and units based there, Rheindahlen JHQ is home to several thousand servicemen, living there with or without their families. British servicemen and their families in principle live in so-called married quarters; personnel of the other nationalities mostly outside the complex in villages in the area. Regular soldiers without families may choose to live in the English NCOs' mess; conscripts are quartered in huts close to the NSSQ.

Two decades of Netherlands signals support Twenty years of Dutch signals support indeed, for on 1 November 1981 the squadron celebrates its 20th anniversary. It is fitting to offer this unit heartfelt congratulations, because:

• – the squadron has proved equal to the tasks assigned to it; – the squadron as such enjoys international esteem; – the squadron has 'sold' the Dutch soldier on the spot; – the squadron has fulfilled the tasks assigned to it with conviction under the signals motto: 'the message must get through'. I hereby thank the personnel of the NSSQ who assisted in the compilation of this article.

— WO A. M. de Gouw, VOC Ede

18. The NSSQ as 'Unit of the Month' — 1986

Around the 25th anniversary the NSSQ appeared as 'unit of the month' in the army magazine Legerkoerier (July 1986). The report, written by R. H. J. Bremer with photographs by J. H. Keeris, sketches the squadron as it stood in 1986, with Major E. R. van Noortwijk in command. Because the original pages are easily legible, they are reproduced below in full.

19. Twenty-Five Years of the NSSQ — November 1986

On 1 November 1986 the Netherlands Signal Squadron turned twenty-five. There was no celebration that day. At that moment the squadron was taking part in Able Archer, the annual NATO exercise in which the alliance's command structure was put to the test — and precisely then the unit had to do what it existed for: keep the couriers riding and the cable lying. The celebration was moved to the last full week of November.

That postponement is characteristic of the unit. The squadron only got round to its own jubilee when the work allowed.

On the occasion of the jubilee a supplement appeared in the NAK Koerier of November 1986, the periodical of the Netherlands Administrative Corps NORTHAG-TWOATAF — the magazine of the Dutch community at Rheindahlen. On the cover the squadron marches with colour and drummer past autumn trees; above it reads: "25 years NL Signal Squadron 1961 - 1986". The supplement runs to twelve pages, numbered in Roman numerals.

It is the most important document the squadron left behind about itself. Where the 1981 jubilee article (chapter 17) was written by an outsider, this is the unit's own story: the programme of the celebration, a foreword by the most senior Dutch officer at NORTHAG, an invitation from the commander, the history in writing, the organisation charts, the tasking and the list of all commanders and sergeants major since 1961. And, to close, a conversation with the man who had to build the unit from nothing in 1961.

Of the twelve pages, eleven have survived; pages I and VII are missing. The text is reproduced verbatim below, including the abbreviations and typesetting errors of the original. The original pages are included as facsimiles in Appendix E.

Foreword — Major General A. C. de Jonge

The Dutch servicemen at Rheindahlen came under the most senior Dutch officer at NORTHAG. In 1986 that was Major General A. C. de Jonge, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations and Senior Officer of the Royal Netherlands Army. He opened the supplement, and in a few sentences he names precisely what made the squadron special within that community.

It is a pleasure for me to write a few words in this supplement on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Netherlands Signal Squadron. My congratulations, and those of the entire Dutch Community, go to the Commander, Officers, NCOs, Corporals and Soldiers of this unit. The Squadron holds a special place within our Dutch Community as its only organic unit and can therefore show itself far more than the rest of our community as one whole.

Internationally the Squadron has a very good name. That is owed not only to the present personnel but of course also to all their predecessors.

I wish the personnel of the Squadron an especially fine celebration and every success with their work in the future.

— Maj Gen A. C. de Jonge, DCOS OPS NORTHAG, Senior Officer RNLA

Invitation — Major E. R. van Noortwijk

Commanding officer Major E. R. van Noortwijk invited the magazine's readers to come and see. His invitation is the only document that states in black and white why the celebration did not take place on the founding date.

On 1 November 1961 the Netherlands Signal Squadron was founded. The how and why you can read a few pages further on. Since a celebration of the 25th jubilee on 1 November 1986 was an impossibility owing to participation in the exercise Able Archer 1986, this celebration has been moved to the last full week of November 1986. How the members of the Squadron have envisaged it you can read on one of the previous pages. I invite you all to come and look at our open day on 27 November 1986, at which our own international signals equipment, military-national and civilian materiel will be shown. A tanker, a Communication Centre, the Royal Military Constabulary etc. Several firms have also agreed to provide stands. (See map) Naturally the traditional pea soup will not be lacking either (between 12.30 and 14.00), prepared by our own cooks in our own field kitchen. I further invite you to be present at the attestation and commemoration parade on 26 November 1986. Four regular corporals of the Squadron will then take the oath of allegiance. A performance by the colour guard under 1st Lt Hanssen and a show by the oldest Army band, the Johan Willem Friso band of the First Army Corps, are, beside the oath-taking, among the highlights of the celebration.

Kindly be present by 15.30 at the latest on the Garrison Parade Ground (opposite the SS shop).

The ceremony will last until about 17.00.

I express the hope that you will make use of these invitations in great numbers and thereby help to make this celebration something unforgettable.

— C-NL Sig Sqn, E. R. van Noortwijk, Major

The programme of the celebration

The celebration spanned three days: a parade with attestation, an open day for the parents, and a reunion for everyone who had ever served there. The programme stood on page II.

26 Nov 1986 — Ceremonial Inspection, Attestation and Commemorative Address

15.30 Latest arrival of guests and interested parties 15.45 Arrival of band and troops 16.00 Report to Parade Commander 16.05 March-on of the Colour 16.15 Ceremonial Inspection by Comnorthag 16.20 Attestation ceremony 16.40 Commemorative address by Senior Officer RNLA Northag, Maj Gen A. C. de Jonge 16.50 March-off of the Colour 16.55 Musical show JWF 17.10 End

27 Nov 1986 — Open day NL Sig Sqn 11.00 Arrival of parents of NL Sig Sqn servicemen, address by the Commander

12.00 Viewing of the military equipment on display, various stands from industry etc. (see map) Pea soup with rolls. Parents have the opportunity to view Camp Rheindahlen. 17.30 End of open day. 18.00 Rice table for parents and special guests in the PMC 20.00 Start of the festive evening arranged by the WZZ in the PMC, featuring among others the orchestra "Major Force" and the ladies' group "Risque". 24.00 End

28 Nov 1986 — Reunion NL Sig Sqn 13.30 - 14.00 Reception of reunionists 14.15 Welcome by C-NL Sig Sqn 14.30 - 17.00 Viewing of equipment and camp 17.00 Rice table After the rice table, convivial gathering into the small hours.

History of the NL Sig Sqn

Under this heading, page VIII carried the history of the unit as the squadron itself put it in writing. It is the concise, official version: founding, moves, equipment, task and future — in less than a page.

The Netherlands Signal Squadron was founded at Bergen op Zoom (NL) on 1 November 1961. The Squadron was specially formed to become part of the Northag Signal Support Group, its task being to provide the Courier Service for Staff Northag and to provide all cable/line communications in the Group. The unit was placed under the direct operational command of Comnorthag. Much help was given by 891 Signal Battalion, from which the Squadron was permitted to receive personnel and material support. The unit, at that time about 160 men strong, was equipped with Dutch materiel: NEKAF jeeps for the couriers, DAF 3-ton and 1-ton and GMC 3-ton for the other platoons. On 15 January 1962 the newly formed Sqn was transferred to the Francisca Barracks at St Tönis near Krefeld, where the sister units 13 (BE) Cie TTR and 28 (BR) Sig Reg were already stationed.

(The name of our unit stems from the fact that in the British Signals a unit of company strength is designated a Squadron.)

In the barracks some blocks were designated for the staff and support element and a few blocks for conscript sleeping accommodation. To have a canteen of its own, Club '62 was founded. SMA van Oudheusden (the later HPZ NAK, Capt Miel van Oudheusden) was its spiritual father. Club '62 was, moreover, run entirely by conscripts.

After about a year it became clear that the barracks was too small for 3 units. The Sqn was transferred to JHQ at Rheindahlen on 30 January 1963. Block 21 was allocated as staff building, and part of the MT Coy site was made available as garage, store and parking. After some years the Dutch vehicle registration was changed to the AFCENT vehicle registration. When new international vehicles were purchased, the change was made to the X registration so familiar to you.

Owing to further expansion of the MT Coy and the Sqn, the Carpark and the Stores were newly built opposite block 21 and taken into use in the early seventies. In the course of time some smaller storage spaces were added until the present form was reached.

The Sqn at present has an almost entirely renewed vehicle fleet; only a few vehicles are older than 5 years. The fleet consists of some 20 blue Escorts, some 6 Land Rovers and some 40 two- and five-ton lorries used for various purposes.

The task of the Sqn has remained unchanged through the years: Couriers and Cable. The unit is, relatively speaking, a young branch on the tree of the Dutch Signal Corps, but shows itself by functioning effectively in both international and national contexts. Often away for International Signal Corps exercises (Canary Caper, Cactus End), often asked to support events of the Dutch community — and the national signal corps too never appeals to the Sqn in vain.

The future of the Sqn is assured; the unit remains at the disposal of Comnorthag. Since a reorganisation of Northag's signals system is under consideration, the unit's task will certainly be changed, and an even more important place may perhaps be won within Northag SSG.

Editorial note: "the Carpark and the Stores were not built opposite block 21" stands thus in the original. From the rest of the sentence it is apparent that "newly built" is evidently intended. The final paragraph is bitter in hindsight: seven years later the Wall fell, and in 1993 NORTHAG was disbanded — the headquarters for which the squadron existed. The unit itself was disbanded on 1 July 1998 (see chapter 20).

Tasking and working method

Page X summarises what the squadron formally had to do, and how. It is the most businesslike page of the supplement, and at the same time the most useful: here the task stands in the unit's own words.

1. Tasking NL Sig Sqn Under the Standing Operations Procedures (SOP) of Northag Signal Support Group, four tasks are assigned to the Sqn:

a. Providing the Northag Courier System. b. Providing all cable links between radio-relay stations and multiplexers for Northag's radio-relay system. c. Providing all cable connections for Staff Northag longer than 500 metres. d. Providing liaison between Staff Northag and the Deutsche Bundes

Post. Available for this are 21 courier teams, 4 heavy line detachments, 2 normal line detachments and 2 light ones.

2. Working method NL SIG Sqn

a. Courier System Northag The courier system is provided by the Courier Service Troop (CST). The system consists of a planned schedule with departure and arrival times ('bus book') and a stand-by system in which special couriers are designated. Although the Sqn prepares everything, deployment is the responsibility of G 1-Northag. On average some 300,000 km are driven per year.

Per exercise (Able Archer or Crested Eagle etc.) about 50,000 km are covered. The rest goes on peacetime runs to 1 (NL) Corps (3× a week), 1 (GE) Corps

(2× a week), the Sqn's sister units (daily) and special couriers to the other corps.

b. Cable links radio-relay system Northag 'Spiral Four' (S 4) cable is laid out for the radio-relay system provided by 840 Fernmeldebataillon. To make this system, carrier of many telephone and telegraph circuits, less vulnerable, the cable is not laid down but built. That is to say, this cable is hung, where necessary, on buildings, trees and poles. The cable is never buried.

c. Cable connections Normally, connection to the communications system is obtained by the user himself. If the length exceeds 500 metres, the Squadron's help is required.

d. Liaison DBP All telephone connections for exercises are provided by the Sqn, in cooperation with the Bauämter of the Deutsche Bundes Post. In addition, where necessary, these connections are brought to the user and connected by the Sqn.

The organisation

Page IX carried two charts: the squadron within the Northag Signal Support Group, and the organisation of the squadron itself. They are reproduced below from the supplement. The second chart notes the strength top left — 4/19/94, that is to say four officers, nineteen NCOs and ninety-four corporals and privates.

The Squadron forms part of the Northag Signal Support Group. The 'organisation chart' you see below:

The Squadron is organised as follows:

The honorary members

Page XI opened with the list of all squadron commanders and sergeants major since November 1961 — the list included in this dossier as Appendix D. Below it stood, almost in passing, a sentence about a custom recorded nowhere else.

As a tradition, the regular cadre of the Squadron appoints those who have exerted themselves exceptionally for the wellbeing of the Squadron as Honorary Members, Members of Honour. A list of these members is to be found in the hall of block 21, the Squadron's staff building.

That list in the hall of block 21 no longer exists. Who stood on it, only those who walked past it at the time now know.

The first years of the Netherlands Signal Squadron

The closing piece of the supplement is also the most valuable. For the twenty-fifth anniversary Major Van Noortwijk travelled to Zeist and there spoke with Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) C. Salomons, seventy-two years old — the man who in 1961 had to build the unit from nothing at Bergen op Zoom. It is the only first-hand voice of the founder that has been preserved.

In an investigation to set down the Squadron's history after 25 years, one cannot avoid the question of how and by whom the unit was 'born'. Thus one arrives at the Squadron's first commander, Lt Col (ret.) C. Salomons. The then Major Salomons was instructed by the Signal Corps Inspectorate to give shape to the Netherlands Signal Squadron at Bergen op Zoom with effect from 1 November 1961.

'We began', says the now retired colonel, 72 years old, in his fine house in Zeist, 'with nothing. Only a little personnel was channelled through to me via the S1 of the Inspectorate. We were guests of 891 Signal Battalion at Bergen op Zoom, where we were allocated some office space. My right-hand man, Captain Ruygrok, would manage the equipment, and my CSM, WO Giroldi, was put in charge of the personnel. Well, we received vehicles from all sorts of units and they were not the best; about 50 NEKAFs and, if I remember rightly, 17 lorries, including DAF 3-tonners, 1-tonners and GMCs. The line equipment we received

from the Signal Corps Inspectorate. Soon the brand-new unit, with a rather muddled organisation, was transferred to the Francisca Barracks at St Tonis (FRG). There the CO of 28 Signal Regiment, who was also barracks commander, allocated us some office space, garage quarters, sleeping blocks for the soldiers and some further storage space for the line equipment.

It was a difficult time — not because of the work; in that respect we had a very good name.

However, things did not go so smoothly between the Dutch conscripts and the English regulars. There were frequent quarrels in the dining hall and the canteen. That is why Club '62 was founded. Our soldiers were often sent out of the canteen for no reason. My SMA van Oudheusden (later well known as Capt Miel van Oudheusden HSP NAK) arranged this flawlessly. First we were given an extra room by the good offices of the English barracks commander. The wall between was knocked out to gain more space, and then it was a matter of wangling. A simple bar was built and the seating was arranged from the Netherlands. A soldiers' committee took care of the purchasing. No profit was made; everyone paid a subscription of DM 1.00 a month. On leaving the service, a demob day was paid for out of it. That meant a day out on the town as one saw fit. Much was possible, though naturally not everything. The couriers drove a terrific amount. I sometimes felt sorry for those drivers in their open NEKAFs in winter. I still remember that severe winter of 1962. Not a single accident — but that was thanks to the snow, which kept them from driving fast. Normally there were the occasional small mishaps.

Outside exercises and maintenance the line platoon actually had little to do. We had to find work for them. Well, they even laid, maintained and checked cable on a British airfield. The finest job was laying an S4 cable between the border crossings of Maasniel and Elmpt. The Kmar major at Roermond asked me, since the customs officers had to talk to each other and the overhead line was often broken. That was in the time we were in camp Rheindahlen — we moved there at the beginning of January 1963. So a buried landline was needed. Where do you get such a line for free? I went to Delft to arrange something together with Capt. Spinhoven, who later also commanded the Squadron. He still had written-off S4 cable lying about, and we buried it, and the thing worked well. We could do no wrong at the border any more. Oh yes, the field post was in my organisation in those days too. If they smuggled, they were off to another unit, in the Netherlands, that very same day.

At Rheindahlen the Squadron staff was housed in block 21, with next to it a dovecote 'for Sig Sqn pigeons only'. The rest of the squadron was housed on the MT Coy site. That is where we held roll call too…'.

And so it goes on. The colonel enjoyed himself thoroughly. On the way to the car he stops me once more: 'I must still tell you about that one time…'.

— E. R. van Noortwijk Salomons' account explains much of what elsewhere in this dossier is recorded only as fact: why Club '62 came about, why the unit began with the worst jeeps in the army, and how it largely had to scrape its first work together itself. Twenty-five years later there stood a squadron with a renewed vehicle fleet and an international name. Seven years after that, it no longer existed.

Editorial note: "krgen", "St Tonis", "Rheindhalen" and "oefenigen" stand thus in the original. On page VIII Van Oudheusden is styled "HPZ NAK", here "HSP NAK"; both appear thus in the supplement.

20. The End — 1993, 1998 and 2013

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 changed everything. The threat against which NORTHAG had been built up for decades fell away, and NATO was sharply reduced. On 24 June 1993 the Northern Army Group was disbanded, in the same period as the air staff 2 ATAF. With that, the headquarters for which the Netherlands Signal Squadron had been raised disappeared.

For the squadron the end came in stages. On 7 May 1993 the NSSQ held its parents' day one last time — the tradition by which the unit showed the parents each year what their sons were doing there. Six weeks later the army group they were doing it for no longer existed.

Five more years — the disbandment in 1998

And yet the squadron was not gone with that. According to the Signal Corps Historical Collection, which manages the regiment's archive, the Netherlands Signal Squadron was disbanded only on 1 July 1998 — five years after the army group it served.

That fact deserves an honest note, for there is confusion about it. Until July 2026 this dossier, too, held to 1993, and most overviews do so to this day: with the disappearance of NORTHAG the unit lost its reason for being, after all, and the men who did their national service there had long since gone home. But the complex remained in use — from 1994 the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps sat at Rheindahlen — and evidently a process of five more years followed before the squadron was formally struck off the strength. What the unit still did in those years, and how large it then was, cannot be established from the material now available.

Thus two dates stand side by side, and both are true. In 1993 the work for which the squadron had been raised came to an end. On 1 July 1998 the squadron itself ceased to exist.

— Disbandment date as supplied by F. F. M. (Frank) Peersman, Colonel of the Signal Corps (ret.), secretary of the Signal Corps Historical Collection and staff member of its Archive and Library, July 2026.

The complex remained in British use for another twenty years after that, housing among others the headquarters of the British Forces in Germany and the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. In July 2013 the last headquarters moved to Bielefeld, and on 13 December 2013 the site went back to the German state. The 'town within a town' became a ghost town. What remained is the memory — and that is precisely why it is worth recording.

For anyone who wants to see the complex today: various drone and exploration videos of the abandoned JHQ Rheindahlen can be found online — images of the very streets and buildings from this story, now silent and returned to the forest. (See among others EZURBEX, 'Former NATO Headquarters In 2021 — JHQ Rheindahlen', 2021.)

The sequel — the site returns to military hands (2025–2026)

With that the story seemed finished: a cleared complex, returned to the German state and slowly to the forest. In the years that followed, plans came and went. In 2015 investors submitted a proposal to turn it into a leisure park; that same year gas, water and electricity were in fact reconnected to house refugees there temporarily. Demolition, sale, redevelopment — the site seemed on its way to a civilian future. Until the autumn of 2025.

On 27 October 2025 the German federal government imposed a moratorium on the conversion and sale of sites of the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben. The reason was stated in so many words: the "veränderte sicherheitspolitische Lage" — the changed security situation. The grounds of the former JHQ Rheindahlen also fell under that moratorium. The site was, in short, taken off the market because Germany might need it militarily again.

On 18 November 2025 the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that they had reached agreement. The JHQ site is to have a twofold purpose — called "duale use" in the accord. The state is building a facility there with room for 140 persons required to leave Germany. And the federal government claims the site for a new Bundeswehr location, expressly motivated by "the required growth and defence capability of the armed forces". The nearby Niederrhein-Kaserne the federal government did release; it goes to the city of Mönchengladbach, for an emission-free bus depot.

And it did not stop at plans. From 13 to 20 March 2026 the Bundeswehr held an exercise on the grounds of the former JHQ. The Landeskommando Nordrhein-Westfalen informed the city of Mönchengladbach, the Kreis Viersen and the town of Wegberg: about eighty soldiers, twenty-five vehicles and eight drones would be involved, and there was no danger to the population. In that same notice stands, in passing, a sentence that explains much: the former JHQ "is already regularly used as a training ground by the police". A sprawling area of empty houses, real streets, schools and offices is, after all, hard to replicate.

One caveat belongs to that picture, for rumour is now running ahead of the facts. There is no public decision designating the JHQ as a permanent urban-warfare training village. What is certain is this: the police already train there regularly, the Bundeswehr exercised there in March 2026 with drones, the site has been withdrawn from civilian sale, and a new Bundeswehr location is coming. Where that leads remains to be seen.

Yet the symmetry is hard to ignore. From 1952 the complex was stamped out of the Rheindahlener Wald in barely two years, with seven million tree roots dug out and sixteen hundred kilometres of piping, because it had to be finished before West Germany regained its sovereignty — built against a threat from the east. In 2013 it was handed back and became a ghost town. In 2025 it was withdrawn from the market once more, and the motivation was in essence the same as in 1952. Above the streets and blocks of the complex — where the squadron had its staff building, its garages and its accommodation — drones flew in March 2026.

"the message must get through"

The compiler of this dossier already noted it in the foreword: the European military cooperation taken for granted in his service years is, in 2026, once again a subject of debate. The site on which that story played out turns out simply to have been waiting for that same debate.

— After the press release of the Ministerium der Finanzen NRW, 18 November 2025 (moratorium of 27 October 2025, accord on "duale use", 140 places); and the press release of the Kreis Viersen, 12 March 2026 (exercise 13–20 March 2026, c. 80 soldiers, 25 vehicles, 8 drones). See Appendix B.

21. Reunions and the Living Archive

That the bond between former NSSQ men has remained strong was shown once more in 2019. In June of that year some hundred and fifty veterans came together for a reunion, organised by corporal (ret.) Stefan van Nijmweegen. The success was so great that the gathering was repeated: a second reunion followed in 2022, and on 19 September 2026 the third takes place at Elsloo — for Van Nijmweegen the last he will organise before his retirement. Around the unit there is, moreover, an active Facebook group, 'NSSQ Rheindahlen', founded by him and holding hundreds of photographs — a true living archive, from which the images in this dossier also derive.

There, too, lies the future of this dossier. The 'hard' history stands on verifiable ground. What completes the story is the human side: the photographs, the exercise booklets, the passes and cards, and above all the memories of the people themselves. Every contribution helps to preserve a piece of Dutch military history that would otherwise be lost.

Gallery — The Reunion

The 2019 reunion and the lasting bond between former NSSQ men.

Reunion 2026 — 19 September

On 19 September 2026 the NSSQ community comes together once more. We are keeping this page open: afterwards it will be filled in with photographs and impressions of that day.

22. The Cannerberg — The Underground NATO Headquarters

The Rheindahlen story has a Limburg tail. While NORTHAG and 2 ATAF did their daily work from the headquarters near Mönchengladbach, their protected wartime alternate lay hidden a good hundred kilometres to the south-west: the underground NATO headquarters in the Cannerberg, a marl hill near Maastricht on the Belgian border, close to Neercanne castle.

In a former marl quarry — the Boschberg — a heavily secured bunker complex had been fitted out from 1954. In the event of war the regional headquarters of the 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF) would relocate here from Rheindahlen; in NATO terminology this fixed underground location was accordingly called 'TWO ATAF STATIC'. From 1 July 1963 the bunker was manned day and night, all year round. From here, until the end of 1992, air defence was coordinated for the northern half of West Germany, with Belgian, British, German and Dutch servicemen side by side — the same international partnership in which the NSSQ, too, performed its signals task.

The complex was impressive. Behind the entrance lay a system of galleries totalling some eight kilometres, with about four hundred offices and workspaces along underground 'streets' with names like Mainstreet and Alpha through Golf. By day three to four hundred servicemen worked there, by night some forty, and during multi-day exercises that rose to as many as a thousand. On 1 October 1992 the Joint Operations Centre left the Cannerberg; shortly afterwards the last servicemen departed and the complex fell silent for good.

Since then the Limburgs Landschap foundation has managed the former headquarters, which may be visited only by rare exception. For the former NSSQ men a visit is a special experience: it brings the world in which they served tangibly close again. One such visit to the Cannerberg was organised in part by Stefan van Nijmweegen, together with André Leurs and Geert van Lith.

Photo report — a visit by former NSSQ men

On 14 September 2024 such a visit took place. The images below give an impression of it: from the entrance in the marl face and the underground 'streets' with their map, via the NORTHAG emblem with the '7' and the NATO compass rose hewn into the rock, to the old signals and operations rooms — and the veterans themselves, together beneath the flags of the allies.

Appendix A — Timeline

1952 Establishment of the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) at Bad Oeynhausen; start of construction near Rheindahlen.

1954 NORTHAG and the other headquarters move into JHQ Rheindahlen; about 12,000 servicemen relocate.

1957 NORTHAG is completed with the addition of a German army corps.

1961 Founding of the Netherlands Signal Squadron at Bergen op Zoom (1 November 1961), as guest of 891 Signal Battalion; first commander Major C. Salomons.

1963 The NSSQ is moved to JHQ Rheindahlen, its permanent home.

1966 Jeeps are replaced by Land Rovers; new DAF three-tonners make their entrance.

1973 First IRA bomb attack on the complex (Globe cinema); no injuries.

1981 The NSSQ celebrates its 20th anniversary on 1 November; publication of the jubilee article.

1986 Twenty-fifth anniversary; the celebration is moved to 26–28 November because of exercise Able Archer. Jubilee supplement in the NAK Koerier with the history, the organisation charts and the list of commanders.

1987 IRA bomb attack by the officers' mess (23 March); thirty-one injured.

1987 Reforger '87 (Certain Strike): major NATO troop movement, for the first time entirely in the NORTHAG sector (13–24 September).

1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall; start of the drawdown of NATO forces in Germany.

1993 Disbandment of NORTHAG (24 June); the headquarters for which the NSSQ existed disappears.

1998 The Netherlands Signal Squadron is officially disbanded (1 July), five years after NORTHAG.

2013 Return of the complex to the German authorities (13 December).

Appendix B — Sources and Reliability

Most of the material in this dossier is well founded; a number of points rest on a single source or could not be fully confirmed. These are named separately here, in line with the guiding principle of an accurate and verifiable story.

Well founded (multiple or primary sources)

The history and scale of JHQ Rheindahlen and NORTHAG; the composition of the NORTHAG Signal Group and the division of tasks among the four countries; the role, garrison and founding of the NSSQ; the signals motto; the IRA attacks; and the return of the complex to the German authorities (2013). The division of tasks per country is confirmed both by the Dutch jubilee publications and by an eyewitness account of a British veteran of 28 (BR) Signal Regiment. The founding history (Major Salomons, 891 Signal Battalion, Captain Ruygrok) and the list of commanders come from the 25th-anniversary booklet.

Based on a single source

The exact strength figures (117 in peacetime, 210 in wartime) come from orbat85.nl. The courier service's mileage (about 300,000 km a year) comes from the jubilee booklet. Both accord with the general picture, but are not independently repeated elsewhere.

The squadron's disbandment date — 1 July 1998 — also rests on a single source: the statement of the Signal Corps Historical Collection. That source is authoritative, but stands at odds with what was held almost everywhere until July 2026, this dossier included, namely 1993. See chapter 20.

Plausible but unconfirmed

That the courier service specifically carried 'secret documents' is plausible but not to be found in so many words in the sources. The precise design history of the emblem could not be established.

Sources consulted

• Order of Battle 1985 — Royal Army (Netherlands Signal Squadron), orbat85.nl
• JHQ Rheindahlen — Wikipedia
• Northern Army Group — Wikipedia
• 1987 Rheindahlen bombing — Wikipedia
• The NSSQ within the NORTHAG Signal Group — veterans' site of 13 (BE) Cie TTr
• Signal Troops Regiment on the NSSQ (2019 reunion) — Facebook
• Emblem of the Signal Troops Regiment — Defensie.nl
• Memories of the exercise in Great Britain (summer 1979) — Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen' (incl. Rob Triepels)
• Royal Engineers Journal — reports on the planning and construction of the HQ complex near Rheindahlen (March and June 1956; the water supply in March 1957)
• NATO headquarters Cannerberg — Wikipedia
• NORTHAG War Headquarters Cannerberg — Wikipedia
• Former NATO headquarters (Cannerberg) — Stichting Het Limburgs Landschap
• Motorcycle dispatch rider (history and equipment of the RNLA: Triumph 3TA, Moto Guzzi V50 NATO) — Wikipedia
• British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS television; JHQ Rheindahlen as distribution point) — Wikipedia
• 1988 IRA attacks in the Netherlands (Roermond and Nieuw-Bergen, 1 May 1988) — Wikipedia
• IRA attack in Roermond on 27 May 1990 — Wikipedia
• 30 hurt as car bomb hits Army base (23 March 1987) — BBC On This Day
• Jubilee supplement "25 years NL Signal Squadron 1961 - 1986" — NAK Koerier, periodical of the Netherlands Adm. Corps NORTHAG-TWOATAF, November 1986 (pp. I–XII; primary source, fully transcribed in chapter 19)
• Signal Corps Historical Collection, Amersfoort — statement by Colonel (ret.) F. F. M. Peersman on the founding (1 September 1961), the stationing in Germany, the 1964 organisation, the fanion and the disbandment (1 July 1998); with the photographs of the cable lorry and the fanion (July 2026, via Stefan van Nijmweegen)
• Exercise Reforger (incl. Reforger 87 'Certain Strike') — Wikipedia
• Reforger '87 / Certain Strike '87 (NORTHAG exercise, 13–24 September 1987) — military-historical reference
• EZURBEX — 'Former NATO Headquarters In 2021 | JHQ Rheindahlen', YouTube (2021): drone and GoPro footage of the abandoned JHQ complex
• BAOR Locations — Francisca-Kaserne, Sankt Tönis (home of 28 (BR) Signal Regiment, NORTHAG Signal Group)
• 13 (BE) Cie TTr — History (unit website, sites.google.com/site/13ciettr): founding 1961, Francisca Barracks Krefeld-Forstwald, sponsorship 6 Bn TTr, Siemens→ANT 1985, list of commanders
• 2 ATAF, Rheindahlen (formed 1958, disbanded 1993; command structure and JOC Maastricht) — ACE High Journal, ace-high-journal.eu
• NATO Funkstation Mönchen-Gladbach / Hehn ACE-High (AHEZ) — Lostplace Map (2025): links, lattice mast and Ayrshire Barracks North
• Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung (FZV), Anlage 3 to § 8 — distinguishing sign X: "service vehicles of the international military headquarters established under the North Atlantic Treaty with their regular station in Germany"; issued by the Zentrale Militärkraftfahrstelle, Mönchengladbach-Rheindahlen (gesetze-iminternet.de)
• Number plates of the Bundeswehr (Y) and NATO (X): introduction of X on 1 March 1967, four-digit number, no German flag, inspection sticker on the rear plate — ADAC (adac.de) and Kennzeichenwelt (kennzeichenwelt.de)
• "Einigung erzielt: Zweite Unterbringungseinrichtung für Ausreisepflichtige kann in Mönchengladbach gebaut werden" — Ministerium der Finanzen NRW, press release 18 November 2025 (finanzverwaltung.nrw.de): property moratorium of 27 October 2025, federal-state accord on twofold use of the JHQ site
• "Bundeswehr übt im ehemaligen JHQ Rheindahlen" — Kreis Viersen, press release 12 March 2026 (presse-service.de): exercise 13–20 March 2026, c. 80

soldiers, 25 vehicles, 8 drones; the site is already regularly used by the police as a training ground

• Signal Troops Regiment — own website (verbindingsdienst.nl/regiment), consulted July 2026: founding of the Field Telegraphists Detachment 1874, independent regiment as of 1 May 1949, colour granted 1974 with the honour "Rotterdam 1940", the lion of the Koningsbrug (1960), honour "Southern Afghanistan 2006-2010" (2019), motto Nuntius Transmittendus, regimental commander and regimental adjutant
• Simon Stevin and Elias Beeckman barracks at Ede — Wikipedia and Atlas van Ede: founding of the 2nd Signal Troops Regiment 1 November 1951, merger and depot 1954, arrival of the technical training from Utrecht and the name Signal Corps Training Centre (VOC) in 1967, cessation of military activities around 2010 and transfer to the municipality of Ede as of 1 January 2011

Primary sources: the jubilee article '20 years Netherlands Signal Squadron' (1981) and the jubilee booklet for the 25th anniversary (c. 1986); photographs from the picture archive of the former NSSQ men (Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen' and joint photo album).

Appendix C — Photo Credits

The photographs in this dossier come from the picture archive of the former NSSQ men, supplemented by a few facsimiles (scans) from the jubilee publications, recognisable by their captions. The wall shield and the neckerchief were photographed from the original objects; the map is a detail of a plan of the Rheindahlen Military Complex. For a definitive edition it is advisable to state the rights holder, maker and year of every photograph as precisely as possible.

Use and rights. This dossier is a private, non-commercial compilation, intended as a memento for the former NSSQ men. It is distributed among them exclusively in digital form (pdf) and is not printed, published or offered for sale. The images have been brought together in good faith from the private archives of former NSSQ men, from the Facebook group "NSSQ Rheindahlen" and, for a few historical images such as postcards and photographs of the complex, from publicly findable sources. For some of those images the maker or rights holder can no longer be traced; no visible mark or watermark rested on them. Wherever possible the origin has been stated. This dossier serves no commercial or other interest whatsoever, and no claim is made to the rights of third parties. Rights holders who object to the use of an image may make this known; the image concerned will then be amended or removed. Recipients are asked not to distribute the contents — and in particular the photographs — further, nor to use them for other, certainly not commercial or public, purposes without the consent of the rights holders.

Appendix D — Squadron Commanders and Sergeants Major

Taken from the 25th-anniversary booklet (c. 1986). The years indicate the beginning and end of the tenure.

Squadron commanders

Commander Period

Maj. Salomons Nov. 1961 – July 1964

Maj. E. R. Haighton July 1964 – July 1967

Maj. C. P. van Gilst July 1967 – July 1970

Maj. G. W. Waanders July 1970 – July 1974

Maj. C. J. Spinhoven July 1974 – July 1979

Maj. F. C. M. Hamm July 1979 – March 1983

Maj. J. M. O. van Bussel March 1983 – Aug. 1985

Maj. E. R. van Noortwijk Aug. 1985 – (1986)

Squadron sergeants major

Sergeant major Period

WO J. Giroldi Nov. 1961 – Jan. 1965

WO A. van de Hout Jan. 1965 – July 1968

WO H. Mes July 1968 – July 1971

WO A. van Dorssen July 1971 – July 1972

WO M. H. van Zanten July 1972 – July 1976

WO M. van de Berg July 1976 – July 1977

WO A. Pellegrom July 1977 – July 1983

WO J. J. Maassen July 1983 – June 1986

WO P. Bohte July 1986 – ...

Appendix E — From the Jubilee Publications (Facsimile)

To conclude, the original pages of the two jubilee publications from which a large part of the facts in this dossier derive: the article "Twenty years NSSQ" from the 1981 VOC publication, and the jubilee supplement "25 years NL Signal Squadron" from the NAK Koerier of November 1986. Both are fully transcribed elsewhere in this dossier — see chapters 17 and 19.

The original pages of the jubilee article "Twenty years NSSQ" from the 1981 VOC publication (pp. 258–265). The full, legible text is in chapter 17.

Images and Rights

The photographs come almost entirely from the private picture archive of the former NSSQ men themselves; wherever the origin is known, it is stated. This website is a non-commercial, commemorative initiative: the dossier is not published or sold and serves no commercial interest whatsoever.

Do you believe you hold rights to an image, are you yourself recognisable in a picture and do not wish to be, or would you like material to be removed or credited differently? Then please contact the administrator of this website, Theo Theelen, at info@nssq.nl — it will then be amended or removed. Reproduction or other use is not permitted without the consent of the rights holders.

'the message must get through'

NETHERLANDS SIGNAL SQUADRON

Connections That Endured

The history of the Dutch signals unit at the NATO headquarters

JHQ Rheindahlen — 1961–1998

Compilation and text Gerard Worm — conscript sergeant and commander of a line detachment with the NSSQ, January – December 1981.

Version July 2026. This dossier is a living document: it is supplemented as material and memories come in. A next version is planned after the reunion of 19 September 2026.

Sources The accountability for all sources used — with the reliability of each item — is set out in Appendix B. The origin of the images is stated in Appendix C. Where sources contradict one another, this is named in the text and not smoothed over.

With thanks to Stefan van Nijmweegen — co-founder of the Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen' and organiser of the reunions, who brought the archive together and pointed the way to virtually all the material in this dossier.

John van Velzen (intake 84-1) — founder of the Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen', from which the living archive of the unit has grown.

Colonel of the Signal Corps (ret.) F. F. M. (Frank) Peersman — secretary of the Signal Corps Historical Collection, staff member of its Archive and Library, Amersfoort. For the information from the regimental archive on the founding, stationing, designations and disbandment, and for the photographs of the cable lorry and the fanion.

Ton Hensen, Rense Boersma, Fons Maathuis and Rob Triepels — for their photographs and memories, which make this dossier more than a recitation of facts.

The members of the Facebook group 'NSSQ Rheindahlen' — for the picture archive they have built up and preserved together, year after year.

A place to look back — the Signal Corps Historical Collection Anyone who, after reading this dossier, wishes to seek out the tangible side of that past can visit the Signal Corps Historical Collection in Amersfoort. This collection — part museum, part archive and library — preserves the history of Dutch military communications: from the optical signalling devices of the nineteenth century to the radio and digital communications of later years, with its own Regimental Hall of the Signal Troops Regiment. It is the world of which the Netherlands Signal Squadron, too, formed part.

The collection is housed at the Bernhard barracks (Barchman Wuytierslaan 198, Amersfoort) and can generally be visited on Wednesdays, or by appointment for groups; information via info@hcverbindingsdienst.nl and www.hcverbindingsdienst.nl. It is precisely here that the connection with this dossier lies: Colonel (ret.) Frank Peersman, who supplied the information from the regimental archive on the founding, stationing and disbandment of the squadron, is its secretary and a staff member of its archive and library. For anyone who wishes to look beyond these pages, this is the place to keep discovering the story of the signal corps — and with it that of the NSSQ.

Images and rights The photographs come almost entirely from the private picture archive of the former NSSQ men themselves; wherever the origin is known, it is stated. This dossier has been compiled for, and is distributed among, the former members of the Netherlands Signal Squadron. It is not published or sold and serves no commercial interest whatsoever. Anyone who believes they hold rights to an image may come forward; it will then be amended or removed. Reproduction or other use is not permitted without the consent of the rights holders.

'the message must get through'