What does ROC stand for?

To mark his 31 years' service with the 23rd Group of the Royal Observer Corps, Chief Observer Thomas Ward of Eaglescliffe (left) was presented with a certificate of merit.

It said a postal order for 5 shillings had been sent to them, raised through a concert, a bring-and-buy sale and a talkie film show given by a member of the Royal Observer Corps on his way to a look out.

Many brave men lost their lives up here while, down below, frantic Royal Observer Corps units alerted the country to raid after raid from their exposed perches.

Daniel Wilson, Cardiff A:THE honour was called "Mentioned in Despatches" and only 10 of them were given out, to members of the Royal Observer Corps who were plane spotters during the Second World War.

For air defence, there were centres at Gosforth in Newcastle and Royal Observer Corps headquarters at Durham and Carlisle.

He saw, early, the potential of radar, drove its development hard and deployed it 'belt and braces' with the Royal Observer Corps to provide effective warning, together with an information-handling structure - 'filtering' - which enabled him to husband his precious fighter resources, 'scrambling' squadrons just in time through his group and sector controllers, the delegated command organisation by which he fought the air battle.

Now, to mark the bunker's sale, former Royal Observer Corps comrades got together to reminisce about the old days and have a drink in their old local The Ridley Arms, in Stannington, near Morpeth, Northumberland.

They are some of the few remaining Royal Observer Corps posts in the UK.