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 African Corps
The Royal African Corps was a unit in the British Army officially established on 25 April 1804. Fraser’s Corps of Infantry, had been raised for the defense of the Island of Goree, Senegal in August 1800. The regiment was one of several penal battalions composed primarily of deserters and condemned men from the hulks, with some additional Black soldiers being attached to the unit.