Operational instruments of the Royal Observer Corps
The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 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; a serving RAF Air Commodore.
Royal Observer Corps
On 12 September 2008, a replica of a No. 41 Squadron Spitfire MkIIA, wearing the ""Observer Corps"" badge and title, was installed as gate guardian at RAF High Wycombe. The original aircraft on which the replica is based; EB-Z ser. no P7666, was the personal aircraft of Sqn/Ldr Donald Finlay, Commanding Officer of No. 41 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch. This aircraft being one of two which Observer Corps personnel raised sufficient funds in order to purchase for the RAF at the start of World War II. (In 2010 a BAe Harrier GR9A was adorned with the tail code EB-Z and title ""Observer Corps"" in order to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Harrier "ZG857" displayed these additional markings during the months which preceded the type's retirement from RAF service in March 2011).