Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Did the Royal Observer Corps serve in World War II?
Seaborne Observers remain the only members of the ROC whose service during World War II entitles them to wear the HM Armed Forces Veterans Badge, their qualifying for such resulting from the approximately ten-week period of secondment to the Royal Navy. (The ROC itself never having been one of HM Armed Forces; ROC members being non-combatants during wartime with the exception of full-time officers who could be armed and therefore legally classed as combatants). A Seaborne Observers' Association exists with Air Vice Marshal George Black CB OBE AFC RAF (Rtd), a former Commandant ROC, acting as Honorary President.
The Royal Australian Army Service Corps (RAASC) was a corps within the Australian Army. Formed shortly after the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, it was initially known as the Australian Army Service Corps (AASC) until 1948 when the Royal prefix was bestowed. The corps served in World War I, World War II, as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan, Korean War, Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War. The RAASC was disbanded on 31 May 1973.
This is a list of regiments within the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps during World War II.
159th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (159 RAC) was a short-lived armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps serving in India during World War II.
The 145th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (8th Duke of Wellington's Regiment) (145 RAC) was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps that served in North Africa, Tunisia and Italy during World War II.
The 142nd (Suffolk) Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (142 RAC) was an armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps that was raised in World War II and saw active service. The regiment served in the final stages of the North African Campaign at Tunisia and later served during the Italian Campaign from 1943 until early 1945 when it was disbanded.
In 1950, King George Vl granted permission for the issue of a Royal Observer Corps Medal for twelve years continuous service. Each subsequent period of twelve years was recognised by the award of an RAF eagle clasp attached to the medal ribbon. Service by full-time officers was calculated at a rate of 50% for qualifying years, thereby requiring fully twenty four years service in order to qualify for a medal or subsequent clasp. However, any spare-time service previously undertaken by such individuals counted in full. (ROC personnel who served for 28 days during World War II also qualified for the award of a War Medal, with service of 1,080 days qualifying for the 1939–1945 Star and the Defence Medal).
160th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (160 RAC) was a short-lived armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps serving in India during World War II.
Initially opened as a municipal aerodrome the airfield was used by the Royal Flying Corps during World War I and the Royal Air Force in World War II. The airfield became the site of a Royal Observer Corps nuclear bunker during the Cold War.
In 1934 on leaving the Royal Air Force he was employed as the Deputy Commandant of the Observer Corps under Air Commodore Edward Masterman CB CBE AFC RAF (Rtd) at RAF Uxbridge. Between 1935 and 1936 he was appointed Commandant of Southern Area of the Observer Corps during the massive and crucial expansion and development of the Corps during the inter war years.
When Air Commodore Masterman stood down as Commandant ROC in April 1936 Warrington-Morris replaced him and took control of the Observer Corps during the important period immediately prior to the Second World War. He oversaw the move of HQ Observer Corps to RAF Bentley Priory and the Corps' adoption by RAF Fighter Command. He also controlled the Corps during the memorable events of the Battle of Britain and was still at the helm when the Observer Corps was granted the title "Royal" to become the Royal Observer Corps and became a uniformed branch of the RAF. He was Mentioned in Despatches in July 1940.
In World War II, Vile was a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery and during World War II reached the rank of major serving in the Intelligence Corps. At the end of the war he was appointed High Sheriff of Monmouthshire for 1945.
Air Commodore Roy Kenneth Orrock DFC (18 January 1921 – 11 July 2002) was a British pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force officer in the post-war years. He served as the fourteenth Commandant Royal Observer Corps from 1973 to 1975. He was Aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II.
The Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) was an Australian air defence organisation of World War II. The VAOC was formed on 31 December 1941 to support the Royal Australian Air Force by sighting and observing aircraft over Australia. The VAOC swiftly established observation posts across Australia and provided information to the RAAF's regional air control posts. As the threat to Australia declined the VAOC's role was expanded to include coast watching, assisting air traffic control and weather reporting. The VAOC was staffed by civilian volunteers and reached a peak strength of 24,000 personnel and 2,656 observation posts in 1944. After the end of the war the VAOC was reduced to a cadre in December 1945 and was disbanded on 10 April 1946. The VAOC was similar to the British Royal Observer Corps.
During World War II Brown performed a few archaeological tasks for the Museum, but was principally engaged in civil defense work in Suffolk. He served in the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes and in the Royal Observer Corps post at Micklewood Green.
Wallace Ford and Reginald Denny, who played Morelli and Brown, had both served in World War I. Ford served in the United States cavalry, while Denny served as an observer/gunner in the Royal Flying Corps. Denny would eventually found a company that made radio-controlled target aircraft during World War II.
Canadian pilots in the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) learned rudimentary navigation during World War I, but separate observer schools were not introduced until 1918. Right up until the outbreak of World War II there was still no category of air observer in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Organisations similar to the ROC were formed elsewhere during the Second World War, including the Ground Observer Corps, (USA), the Aircraft Identity Corps, (Canada), and the Volunteer Air Observers Corps, (Australia). However, unlike the Royal Observer Corps, most of these organisations had been disbanded by the end of the 1950s.
The Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps (CROC) was the Royal Air Force commander of the Royal Observer Corps. All the holders of the post were RAF officers in the rank of Air Commodore, initially retired reserve officers then Auxiliary officers and, since the end of World War II, serving officers. The ROC was a uniformed civilian branch initially under the control of the Air Defence of Great Britain organization, then Fighter Command and latterly Strike Command. The Royal Observer Corps existed from 1925 until it was stood down in 1995. Most of the commandants, with only three exceptions, were qualified RAF pilots, two being air navigators and the other a General Duties (Ground) Supply Branch officer. If a Royal Observer Corps officer had ever held the appointment, they would have held the rank of "Observer Commodore".
Air Vice Marshal Geoffrey Hill Ambler (23 June 1904 – 26 August 1978) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force during World War II. Ambler served as the third Commandant of the Royal Observer Corps, the first serving RAF officer to hold the appointment as his predecessors were retired air commodores.
The Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) is the Military engineering corps of the Australian Army (although the word corps does not appear in their name or on their badge). The RAE is ranked fourth in seniority of the corps of the Australian Army, behind the Staff Cadets, Armoured and Artillery Corps. The corps was formed by the amalgamation of the various colonial engineer corps of the states and territories of Australia in 1902 and since then has served in various conflicts including World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. The corps has also served on numerous peacekeeping operations and was heavily involved in the Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan.
The 163rd Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (163 RAC) was a short-lived armoured regiment of the British Army's Royal Armoured Corps that served in India during World War II.
Beeching attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst in 1918 and was commissioned into the Royal West Kents after the World War I Armistice. He served during World War II in the Royal Army Service Corps. He was awarded an MBE in 1943 whilst serving as a Major in the Corps in North Africa. He reached the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Beeching died at Aldershot in 1971 aged 71.
No. 108 Squadron RAF was originally a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps during World War I which continued to serve with the Royal Air Force in World War II.
Recognition competitions were organised locally, regionally and nationally and by the start of World War II the Corps had trained nearly 30,000 volunteers to accurately recognise all types of current aircraft. The unofficial "Aeroplane Spotter" magazine was later renamed as "The Journal of the Royal Observer Corps Club" before being adopted as an official publication and renamed as "The Royal Observer Corps Journal" published by HMSO and distributed to every observer at a price of one shilling (5 new pence).
The Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force had been responsible reporting targets and observation of fire in World War I, this role was subsequently called 'Arty/R, but proved difficult from high performance aircraft over hostile territory in World War II. In 1940 it was agreed that RAF AOP squadrons equipped with light aircraft, operating at low altitude over friendly territory and flown by Royal Artillery officers would be formed. These squadrons existed until the formation of the Army Air Corps in 1957.