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Royal Observer Corps Medal
The Royal Observer Corps Medal was instituted in 1950 by King George VI for long service by members of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC) in the United Kingdom. It was awarded until December 1995, when the ROC was stood down. Service prior to 1939 Prior to World War II, ''Observer Corps'' personnel were classed as '' Special Constables'', retained by local constabularies, and qualifying for the Special Constabulary Long Service Medal following nine years continuous service. This qualification ceased in August 1939 when RAF Fighter Command assumed sole responsibility for the ROC. However, service as a Special Constable on observer duties prior to August 1939 counted towards the ROC Medal, provided it had not already been reflected in an award of the Special Constabulary Long Service Medal.Philip Wittingham. ''The Royal Observer Corps: An Analysis of the Long Service Medal and other awards.'' Orders & Medals Research Society Journal, Vol 50 No 1, pages 33-35, March 2011. The new me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Observer Corps
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 (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; latterly a serving RAF Air Commodore. Overview In 1925, following a Defence Committee initiative undertaken the previous year, the formation of an RAF command concerning the Air Defence of Great Britain led to the provis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stable Belt
A stable belt is a striped coloured belt worn at times by the armed forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries – and a few other countries such as Denmark, Brazil and Lebanon. The stripes identify and vary by regiment and corps. In Brazil and Lebanon they are known as gymnastic belts. The term "stable belt" originates from when UK cavalrymen would place the surcingle around the waist when cleaning the stables and tending to their horses. In the 1950s they spread to all branches of the armed forces, adding a splash of colour and individuality to the drab khaki working uniforms. Initially they were resisted by many senior officers, who saw them as too individualistic, but they soon became accepted throughout the UK forces – and have now spread to the forces of a number of other countries. The "gymnastic belt" of some countries now has a similar appearance and use, but the name reflects its origin from physical training equipment. Australia The Australian Army ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom Warning And Monitoring Organisation
The United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) was a British civilian organisation operating to provide UK military and civilian authorities with data on nuclear explosions and forecasts of fallout across the country in the event of nuclear war. The UKWMO was established in 1957 and funded by the Home Office and used its own premises which were mainly staffed by Royal Observer Corps (ROC) uniformed full-time and volunteer personnel as the fieldforce. The ROC was administered by the Ministry of Defence but mainly funded by the Home Office. The only time the combined organisations were on high alert in the Cold War was during Cuban Missile Crisis in October and November 1962. The organisation was wound up and disbanded in November 1992 following a review prompted by the government's Options for Change report. Its emblem-of-arms was a pair of classic hunting horns crossing each other, pointed upwards, with the enscrolled motto "Sound An Alarm", a title also used fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Greater London since 1965. Hendon falls almost entirely within the NW4 postcode, while the West Hendon part falls in NW9. Colindale to the north-west was once considered part of Hendon but is today separated by the M1 motorway. The district is most famous for the London Aerodrome which later became the RAF Hendon; from 1972 the site of the RAF station was gradually handed over to the RAF Museum. The railways reached Hendon in 1868 with Hendon station on the Midland Main Line, followed by the London Underground further east under the name Hendon Central in 1923. Brent Street emerged as its commercial centre by the 1890s. A social polarity was developed between the uphill areas of Hendon and the lowlands around the railway station. Hendon is l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Museum
The Royal Air Force Museum is a museum dedicated to the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom. The museum is a non-departmental public body of the Ministry of Defence and is a registered charity. The museum is split into two separate sites: * Royal Air Force Museum London, opened 1972 * Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, opened 1979 See also * Simon Greenish, former Director of Collections * Maggie Appleton Margaret Mary Appleton (born 21 August 1965) is an English museum director. She has been the Chief Executive Officer of the RAF Museum since 2015.https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/documents/press_releases/cosford/CEO_RAF_Museum_Press_Release.pdf Ear ..., CEO References External links Official website {{Authority control Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Air force museums in the United Kingdom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF Bentley Priory
RAF Bentley Priory was a non-flying Royal Air Force station near Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow. It was the headquarters of Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain and throughout the Second World War. During the war, two enemy bombs destroyed a wooden hut near the married quarters, a blast from a V-1 flying bomb broke a few windows, the windows in the Officers' Mess were shattered by a V-2 rocket, and a Vickers Wellington crashed outside the Sergeants' Mess. The Royal Air Force station closed its operations on 30 May 2008, with all units relocating to new accommodation at RAF Northolt, a few miles away. The station incorporated Bentley Priory, which was originally built in 1766. The house was significantly extended in 1788, by Sir John Soane, for John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn. It was the final home of the dowager Queen Adelaide, queen consort of William IV, before her death there in 1849. Afterwards the building was used as a hotel and girls' school befor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Waterloo Railway Station
Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station of the same name and is adjacent to Waterloo East station on the South Eastern Main Line. The station is the terminus of the South West Main Line to via Southampton, the West of England main line to Exeter via , the Portsmouth Direct line to which connects with ferry services to the Isle of Wight, and several commuter services around west and south-west London, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. The station was opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway, and it replaced the earlier as it was closer to the West End. It was never designed to be a terminus, as the original intention was to continue the line towards the City of London, and consequently the station developed in a haphazard fashion, leading to difficulty finding the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Railway (Great Britain)
The Southern Railway (SR), sometimes shortened to 'Southern', was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts and Kent. The railway was formed by the amalgamation of several smaller railway companies, the largest of which were the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR).Bonavia (1987) pp. 26-28 The construction of what was to become the Southern Railway began in 1838 with the opening of the London and Southampton Railway, which was renamed the London & South Western Railway. The railway was noted for its astute use of public relations and a coherent management structure headed by Sir Herbert Walker. At , the Southern Railway was the smallest of the '' Big Four'' railway companies and, unlike the others, the majority of its revenue came from passenger traffic rather than freight. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SR West Country And Battle Of Britain Classes
The SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, collectively known as ''Light Pacifics'' or informally as ''Spam Cans'', are air-smoothed 4-6-2 ''Pacific'' steam locomotives designed for the Southern Railway by its Chief Mechanical Engineer Oliver Bulleid. Incorporating a number of new developments in British steam locomotive technology, they were amongst the first British designs to use welding in the construction process, and to use steel fireboxes, which meant that components could be more easily constructed under wartime austerity and post-war economy.Arlett (1989), p. 29–30 They were designed to be lighter in weight than their sister locomotives, the Merchant Navy class, to permit use on a wider variety of routes, including in the south-west of England and the Kent coast. They were a mixed-traffic design, being equally adept at hauling passenger and freight trains, and were used on all types of services, frequently far below their capabilities. A total of 110 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cathcart Wight-Boycott
Air Commodore Cathcart Michael Wight-Boycott, (18 August 1910 – December 1998) was a British fighter pilot during the Second World War and a senior Royal Air Force officer during the post-war years. In 1961, Wight-Boycott became the 10th Commandant Royal Observer Corps. Early life Wight-Boycott attended Marlborough College before going up to Clare College, University of Cambridge, where he joined the Cambridge University Air Squadron that was based at RAF Duxford and learned to fly in 1930. After leaving university he joined the Metropolitan Police as a non-uniformed civilian administrator. In September 1937 Wight-Boycott joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) as a pilot officer in his spare time and undertook advanced combat training on Hawker Hurricanes. He was promoted to flying officer in the RAFVR before enlisting on a short service commission in the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the start of the Second World War in September 1939. RAF career Promoted to fli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commandant ROC
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''. The origins of the ROC go back to Metropolitan Observation Service of World War I which was founded by Air Vice Marshal Edward Ashmore. However, As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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