Britain: An official handbook > 1956

BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
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The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve provides a pool of officers, airmen and
airwomen, who, like the personnel of the Auxiliary Air Force, train on a part-time
basis, both as individuals and units.
Part-time National Service men serve in the Royal Air Force Reserve of Officers
and Class H of the Air Force Reserve.
Royal Observer Corps
Over 17,000 men and women from all walks of life form the Royal Observer
Corps, a voluntary civilian organization, administered by Fighter Command,
devoted to the specialized task of identifying and reporting the movements of
aircraft. The corps originated in the first world war to report the movements of
German aircraft and zeppelins over Great Britain and was officially established in
1925. Recently it has undertaken the additional duty of giving warning on radio¬
activity and measuring its extent in the event of air attack with nuclear weapons.
The Air Training Corps
The ATC is open to boys between the ages of 14 and 18. Like the other pre-
Service formations, it seeks to inculcate citizenship as well as training for the RAF.
In 1955-56 the Corps had an estimated strength of 3,600 officers, 850 warrant
officers and 40,000 cadets.
HOME DEFENCE
The Statement on Defence 1955 emphasized the fact that against the thermo¬
nuclear attack of the future the best defence of the civil population is to try to
ensure that it never happens. But financial and other resources must continue to be
provided for a measure of insurance in the event of war. The new form of the threat
to security calls for a complete overhaul of home defence plans, but it is imme¬
diately clear that much can and must be done to mitigate the effects of a thermo¬
nuclear attack if one should occur. The need for rescue, fire-fighting and welfare
operations would be greater than ever. The presence of radioactivity would have
to be detected and measured and necessary warning given. The first call would have
to be met by the civilian services on the spot, but these, though vital, might not be
sufficient, and measures have been taken to provide help by mobile columns based
outside probable target areas and manned by members of the armed forces. Further
support would be available from all the armed forces in the country at the time,
whether regular or reserve, which were not immediately required for combat
operations. ,
The Minister of Defence is charged with planning the part which the armed
forces would play in home defence, and with co-ordinating the plans of the military
authorities with those of the civil authorities.
Organization of Civil Defence
Civil defence planning in the United Kingdom is the responsibility of a number
of ministers each of whom undertakes the duties which, in war time, would repre¬
sent a natural extension of his peace-time functions. As the development of
effective civil defence services involves much detailed planning at local level, the
central Government has enlisted the assistance of local government authorities, of
industry and of public bodies of many kinds, including voluntary organizations
such as the Voluntary^ Aid Societies and Women’s Voluntary Services.