Royal Observer Corps
In 1929 the control of the Observer Corps passed from the county police forces to the Air Ministry, although Chief Constables retained responsibility for personnel and recruitment matters. 1 March 1929 saw the establishment of the new "Headquarters of the Observer Corps" at Hillingdon House, RAF Uxbridge in the west of London, and Air Commodore Edward A D Masterman CB CMG CBE AFC RAF (Rtd) was appointed as the first commandant of the Observer Corps. "Air Cdre" Masterman held this appointment until his retirement on 1 March 1936, and was succeeded by Air Commodore Alfred Warrington-Morris CG CMG OBE AFC RAF (Rtd), who would lead the Observer Corps through the critical period during the Second World War which saw the RAF emerge bruised but victorious following the Battle of Britain of 1940.
Royal Observer Corps
The Metropolitan Observation Service met with some success and although not fully operational until the late summer of 1918 (the last German bombing raid taking place on 19 May 1918), the lessons learned were to prove invaluable for future developments in the field of aircraft observation, identification and reporting. Major General E B Ashmore is often considered to have been the founder of what would eventually become the Royal Observer Corps.
Following the Armistice in 1918, it had been intended that the knowledge, experience and skills gained by the Metropolitan Observation Service during the First World War would be maintained for the future security of the nation. However, by the end of 1920, the observation-post networks and their associated anti-aircraft hardware had been decommissioned, and in 1922 the responsibility for air defence was transferred from the War Office (responsible for the army) to the Air Ministry.