The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down. 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.
A Gotha G.V of the Luftstreitkräfte
Air Commodore Edward A D Masterman, first Commandant of the Observer Corps, (wearing Observer Corps tie and lapel badge)
The signatories to the Munich Agreement.
An Observer Corps Spotter on a rooftop in London.
Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery. Programs of this sort were initially discussed at least as early as the 1920s and were implemented in some countries during the 1930s as the threat of war and aerial bombardment grew. Civil-defense structures became widespread after authorities recognised the threats posed by nuclear weapons.
British First World War poster, bringing attention to the threat posed by aerial bombardment from German Zeppelins
Air Raid Warden testing his equipment in Brisbane in October 1942
Anderson shelters were widely distributed in the United Kingdom by civil defense authorities, in preparation for aerial bombardment.
Jewish Civil Defense group in Jerusalem in 1942. The group served as ARP Fire Wardens, equipped with water hoses and buckets, some wearing FW (Fire Watcher) Brodie helmets. Men are in uniform while women wear plain clothes. Composer Josef Tal stands next to the woman with a black sweater.