Olive Green: Brief history of MCTE, Mhow

Brief history of MCTE, Mhow by Ambreen Zaidi, Bhopal, February 05, 2006 Archives Hindustan Times
MILITARY HEADQUARTERS of War (MHOW) Cantonment was founded by Sir John Malcolm as a sequel to the Treaty of Mandsaur signed by the British Government and the then Holkar king.

Three premier training institutions of the Indian Army viz. the College of Combat, Infantry School and Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE) are located in the cantonment.

The spirit of the cantonment is irrepressible, showing a quaint defiance to the inexorable march of time. During and even after World War I, the Corps of Signals was officered by individuals from the Royal Signals trained in the United Kingdom.

From 1933-40, Indian commissioned officers were trained at the Signal Training Centre (STC) Jabalpur and Army Signal School, Poona. Besides this, specialist training was imparted at the Telecommunications School, Agra and Communication Security School (Cipher) at Mhow.

A Signals Officers Training School, as part of the STC (British) Mhow, trained cadets commissioned into the Royal Signals as well as the commissioned officers of the Indian Signal Corps during 1940-46. All these institutions, except the Army Signal School, Poona, were amalgamated at Mhow on October 1, 1946 to form the Indian Signal Corps School. After independence, it was renamed the School of Signals on June 25, 1948.

The school was organised to train Young Officers (No 1 Squadron), Tech Training (No 2 Squadron) and Cipher Training (No 3 Squadron). However, in 1947 the squadrons were renamed Coys. By early 1949, the establishment was revised again and the school redesignated the School of Signals.

In 1952, the Army Signal School was also moved from Poona to Mhow and retained its separate identity till July 1, 1953 when it was absorbed as part of the School of Signals. The wings were redesignated as Tactical, Technical, Cipher and All Arms Wings. Consequent to national emergency in 1962, a requirement was felt to give pre-commission Signal training to cadets from the Indian Military School (now the Indian Military Academy).

Thus, an additional ‘cadets’ wing came into existence in February 1963 as an affiliate to the Tactical Wing. It was later called YOs Wing. On October 1, 1967, the School was redesignated as the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, and Tactical and Technical Wings became Faculty of Combat Communications Engineering (FCC) and Faculty of Communication Engineering (FCE) respectively.

Graduation from School to College in 1967 also saw addition of Technical Maintenance and Training Aid Wing and the Equipment and QM Wing.

With the advent of computers, the Faculty of Computer Technology and Systems was added in February 1971. EMC/EMI Cell was established in 1980 as part of the prestigious project of the Department of Electronics.

This cell was then expanded and on June 19, 1986 it became the Army EMC Agency, a separate establishment that is now the Army Centre for Electromagnetics (ACE) wef January 1, 1997. Establishment of the Cadets Training Wing on July 10, 2000 heralded the dawn of another era in the history of Mhow Cantonment.

Did you know?
SEVERAL CENTURIES ago, an innkeeper put a small slotted box on each table with a sign ‘To Insure Promptness’, and hence, the word ‘tip’ was coined from the initial letters of this sign. However, the practice of tipping is almost universal though in certain exclusive establishments like the Officer’s Mess it is discouraged. The general rule is that a tip equivalent to 10 per cent of the bill is paid to the waiter. One should be careful not to tip too lavishly as it arouses scorn from others and appears unduly ostentatious. On the other hand, too small an amount brings resentment.
Snooker
The game of Snooker was conceived in Jabalpur. Origins of the game of Snooker are generally regarded as being in the latter half of the 19th century. Billiards had been a popular activity amongst British army officers stationed in India who stole the idea from the Indian game Carrom, and variations on the more traditional billiard games were devised. One variation was to add coloured balls in addition to the reds and black which were used for pyramid pool and life pool. This gave birth to the game of Snooker. Although snooker's origin is not recorded explicitly, it is generally held that a Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain (no relation to the World War II Prime Minister) conceived the game in the British Army Officer's Mess in Jubbulpore, India, in 1875. Was this Mess subsequently designated as Officers Central Mess?
OLIVE GREEN | Brief history of MCTE, Mhow
Diary of 2/4th Battalion the border regiment, 1914-19