Observer Corps

Royal Observer Corps
Royal Observer Corps badge
Active	1925–1996
Country	United Kingdom
Allegiance	Elizabeth II
Branch	Royal Air Force
Type	Civil defence organisation.
Role	Aircraft recognition and reporting (1925–1955) Nuclear warfare analysis and fallout warning service (1955–1996)
Size	1991: c. 10,500 personnel
Part of	RAF Strike Command and UKWMO.
Headquarters	RAF Bentley Priory
Motto(s)	Forewarned is Forearmed
March	Quick March: Skywatch
Anniversaries	29 October
Engagements	Second World War (1939–1945) Cold War (1947–1991)
Decorations	Observer Corps awarded the title Royal by King George VI for service during the Battle of Britain.
Commanders
Air Commodore-in-Chief ROC	HM The Queen
24th and last Commandant ROC	Air Commodore Martin Widdowson (1995–1996)
Notable commanders	Air Commodore Drummond Warrington-Morris CB CMG OBE AFC RAF (1936–1942) * Air Commodore 5th Earl of Bandon GBE CB CVO DSO RAF (1945–1949) * Air Commodore John Howe CB CBE AFC RAF (1977–1981) * Air Commodore George Black CB OBE AFC RAF (1983–1984) * Air Commodore Clifford Spink CB CBE FCMI FRAeS RAF (1993–1995)
Insignia
Ensign
Royal Banner
Stable belt
Abbreviation	ROC

The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down. (ROC headquarters staff at RAF Bentley Priory stood down on 31 March 1996). Composed mainly of civilian spare-time volunteers, ROC personnel wore a Royal Air Force (RAF) style uniform and latterly came under the administrative control of RAF Strike Command and the operational control of the Home Office. Civilian volunteers were trained and administered by a small cadre of professional full-time officers under the command of the Commandant Royal Observer Corps; latterly a serving RAF Air Commodore.

In 1925, following a Defence Committee initiative undertaken the previous year, the formation of an RAF command concerning the Air Defence of Great Britain led to the provision of a Raid Reporting System, itself delegated to a sub-committee consisting of representatives from the Air Ministry, Home Office and the General Post Office. This Raid Reporting System was to provide for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain, and was eventually to become known as the Observer Corps. The Observer Corps was subsequently awarded the title Royal by His Majesty King George VI in April 1941, in recognition of service carried out by Observer Corps personnel during the Battle of Britain.

Throughout the remainder of the Second World War, the ROC continued to complement and at times replace the Chain Home defensive radar system by undertaking an inland aircraft tracking and reporting function, while Chain Home provided a predominantly coastal, long-range tracking and reporting system. With the advent of the Cold War, the ROC continued in its primary role of aircraft recognition and reporting, and in 1955 was allocated the additional task of detecting and reporting nuclear explosions and associated fall-out. By 1965, thanks to advances in (radar) technology, most roles and responsibilities relating to aircraft had been withdrawn and the ROC assumed the role of field force for the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation, (UKWMO); a role which the ROC continued until the early 1990s and the cessation of the Cold War.