Reproduced from an an article from the Tamworth Herald- Herald Feature

A group of men gathered on top of a hill in Glascote, looking and listening. A similar group was occupied on an Elford hilltop. Inconspicuous, largely unnoticed, they were proud of the task they were performing and of the label it carried. 'The eyes and Ears of the RAF'. 

In those dark early days of the Second World War when sophisticated radar detection was in its infancy, their trained skills in spotting and identifying enemy aircraft were vital to the job of warning the populace and they performed it with unpublicised dedication. Their title was 'the Observer Corps' later to be granted the prefix 'Royal' by the King in recognition of their services to a besieged nation, particularly during the Battle of Britain. 

Their posts, as the observation points were called, were staffed by men - women joined later- spanning the spectrum of age, occupation and status in the community.

Names like Len Mercer, Howard Carter senior and junior, Fred Dodson, Jack Jones, Mr Hidderley, 'Laddy' Simpson, Ralph Winter, Jack Hill, Mr Wilday, Bob Jones, 'Nobby' Clarke, Percy Tebbet, SJ Webber, Syd Heath, Jack Penlington, Fred Donnison, Roy Thornburn, Fred Grove, Mr Trowbridge, Bill Mercer, Albert Wright, WF Willcocks. Names dredged from fallible memories and open to correction and addition. Some appear on accompanying photographs, but have no deserved place on any role of honour.

Though the Observer Corps came into its own in the '40s its pedegree goes back much further.

Originally founded in 1925 as a branch of the special constabulary, a sea-change came about in 1939 when it came under the operational control of the Royal Air Force.

The RAF-style uniform which identified its members was worn with pride until the corps' dissolution consigned it to the rag-bag of history.

The ROC members were nothing if not adaptable.

Seven hundred observers served as 'eyes' on merchant shipping advising on correct targeting and avoidance of friendly fire.

D-Day, June 6th, 1944, saw them under fire as they accompanied the invasion flotillas on multiple crossings of the hostile channel.

Ironically, because they did not land on enemy soil, they were not eligible for a medal.

A notable bullseye for the corps was its instant identification of the first V1 'doodlebug' to cross the British coast. The historic report was handed to Winston Churchill within 10 minutes of its being made.

After the war there was a period of euphoria during which the ROC was stood down but the onset of the Cold War pointed to the need for the corps' services albeit in a different role.

Although the skill of its members in spotting and identifying aircraft was maintained and nurtured the ROC accepted a new additional task of reporting, assessing and monitoring the unimaginable potential horrors of a nuclear attack.

The local posts at Glascote moved a short distance towards Polesworth and at Elford went underground, both in terms of security and reality. Their role was deliberately played down to avoid public apprehension.

The Observers, many veterans of the war years, undertook extensive training to operate the instruments and communications network established in underground bunkers sited on, or near, the old 'spotter' sites.

The ROC became an integral part of the UKWMO (The United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation) and by association an active component of NATO, though its role remained almost wholly defensive. 

This did not deter misguided, though undoubtably since, peace campaigners making it a target for their demonstrations. 

On at least one occasion the Observers stationed underground were put at considerable risk by their misdirected protests.

The Polesworth Post was placed on alert one winter midnight when furtive noises were heard through the air shafts. Preparations to repel boarders were downgraded when it was found to be nothing more sinister than a herd of cows using the above ground structures as a scratching post.

Another bit of relief in an otherwise serious routine came as the result of the installation of a bomb-proof super communication system. The impressive loud speaker was - in its birth pangs - less than selective.

On occasion the Duty Observers would be treated to selections of conversations between unsuspecting subscribers to the public telephone system. A memorable highlight was the exchange in fruity language between the local notable pillar of the community and the local Bobby who'd had the cheek to 'do' the dignitary for driving without due care. 

The ROC posts were clustered and could talk to neighbouring operators like Twycross and Shenstone. The posts reported regularly as a matter of routine and instantly in an emergency to a number of secret sector centres equipped to pass on vital information in a matter of seconds.

The Observer Corps posts were regularly staffed during and beyond the years of the old war, swinging into full-time action if and when threats such as the Cuban crisis loomed.

For some years the corps' regional centres had numbered women observers among their ranks, direct descendants of the wartime WAAF control room plotters, heroines of many a directly targeted attack.

Stalwart ladies foreswore the comparative comfort of heated reporting centres and volunteered for service in draughty, windy, cold, often remote monitoring posts. They pulled their weight magnificently and at least one lady observer went down in legend as she liaised between posts on horseback.

Despite a later division of administrative control the operational links with the RAF continued until the end.

Highlights of the ROC year were in the annual camps on RAF stations, relished, particularly, by ex-RAF and WAAF personnel who formed a significant part of the corps' strength in the post-war era.

The corps remained fully active, disciplined and trained until political pressures and changing world conditions led to it being stood down in 1991.