- Commandant Royal Observer Corps
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ROC Crest
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, he 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.[1] However, Ashmore never held the post of ROC Commandant. The first two commandants were recently retired RAF Air Commodores, the next two were Auxiliary Air Force officers and the remainder were serving RAF officers. The last two commandants held the appointment in addition to their primary appointment as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at Headquarters No. 11/18 Group RAF, which was colocated with HQROC at RAF Bentley Priory.
The organisation had started as the volunteer civilian Observer Corps in 1925 and became the uniformed Royal Observer Corps in 1941 as part of the RAF in recognition of their invaluable services during the Battle of Britain. Despite several attempts by the Home Office in the 1950s, 1960s and the 1980s to take over the organisation and dispense with the RAF uniform the ROC remained part of RAF Fighter Command and later RAF Strike Command until they were stood down in 1995 as a result of the Communist Bloc breaking up and the Cold War nuclear threat on the UK being removed.
Contents
Commandants in chronological order
Edward Masterman, first Commandant ROCOrder Date of appointment Name of Commandant Final rank at RAF retirement 1st 1 March 1929 E A D Masterman [2] Air Commodore 2nd 1 March 1936 A D Warrington-Morris [3] Air Commodore 3rd 1 June 1942 G H Ambler [4] Air Vice-Marshal 4th 23 June 1943 F Crerar [5] Air Commodore 5th 7 October 1945 Percy Bernard, 5th Earl of Bandon [6] Air Chief Marshal 6th 1 February 1949 R B Jordan [7] Air Marshal 7th 20 March 1951 G H Vasse [8] Air Commodore 8th 29 March 1954 J H T Simpson [9] Air Commodore 9th 29 June 1959 J M Warfield [10] Air Commodore 10th 29 May 1961 C M Wight-Boycott [11] Air Commodore 11th 3 June 1964 J H Greswell [12] Air Commodore 12th 28 June 1968 D F Rixson [13] Air Commodore 13th 4 January 1971 E B Sismore Air Commodore 14th 24 May 1973 R K Orrock [14] Air Commodore 15th 8 November 1975 M H Miller Air Commodore 16th 23 April 1977 J F G Howe Air Vice-Marshal 17th 12 April 1981 R J Offord Air Commodore 18th 19 February 1983 G P Black Air Vice-Marshal 19th 28 September 1984 J Broughton Air Commodore 20th 5 December 1986 I Horrocks Air Commodore 21st 22 December 1989 G M Boddy Air Commodore 22nd 1 Mar 1993 C R Spink Air Marshal 23rd
and last16 June 1995 M K Widdowson Air Commodore - 31 March 1996 ROC Stood Down - Commandant's insignia
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Air Commodore rank braid
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Commandant's Pennant, flown on staff car's front wing when on RAF Stations and in ROC compounds
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Commandant's star plate displayed on the staff car's front bumper
See also
References
External links
Categories:- Royal Air Force appointments
- Royal Observer Corps
- People of the Royal Observer Corps
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