Air Commodore Edward Alexander Dimsdale Masterman, was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force in the first half of the 20th century. After retiring from the RAF, he served as the first ever Commandant of the Observer Corps.
Air Commodore Edward Masterman, pictured wearing an early Observer Corps lapel badge on his suit jacket.
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.