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Krypton

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Perhaps this may be made a sticky :)

There is lots of interest brewing in the ROC and i for one have lots of very rare items covering all aspects of the Royal Observer Corps from its formation in 1925 till its final day of operation in 1995.

I will use this thread to post pictures of things i have, i will give a brief explanation where possible. if you have your own items or rarities please post them.

PS this list is by no means finished - the amount of stuff i have is ridiculous and due to the size of my collection it is spread out and stored in three different locations!


Radiac Survey Meter No.2. In use in the ROC from the early 1960's till 1982. Used for mobile monitoring missions outside of the post. Replaced by the PDRM82 in 1982. Group Headquaters still kept a stock for back up items and they were calibrated and kept in working order until the early 90's in some cases.


This is the maintenence log for the machine.


This is the PDRM82 and is the item that replaced the RSM No.2. It could be used outside for mobile monitoring. It had a clear to see LCD Screen. The PDRM82F was almost identical but had an external coax socket for connecting an ionisation chamber that would be pushed up into the polycarbonate dome on the surface.


BT Unit AD8010. More commonly known as the Teletalk. Introduced around 1980 and replaced an early version. Each post was equipped with one. They were connected to the cluster master post via a private circuit and then the master post was equipped with a radio and antenna to report back to Group HQ.


Teletalk with lid shut. This one is in a bad condition.


Transition to war plans. Each observer, and group HQ was to be issued with one of these. They were to be kept up to date and held all the neccessary information should they be called up in the event of war.


Royal Observer Corps Training Camps were held pretty much every year, normally in a different location. Not only were they great social events, they allowed new equipment to be tested and emonstrated.


Observers Diary. Each Observer was issued with an ROC Diary. The front inside page showed the locations and contact details of the 25 Groups.


Diary Exterior


Return of RAF Identity Card. Each Observer was issued with an official ID Card. In some cases these were kept (unoficcialy) by the Observer but the majority were handed back in. They were probablys all destroyed.


ROC Certificate. A Master Test was held each year for the Observers. Ceritificates and patches for uniform were awarded to those that passed to the highest standard.


Certificate of StandDown. Issued in 1991.


ROC Medal - issue covering letter.


All Observers were issued with an Observers Handbook.


There were various manuals available. This is one of the final ones produced in the late 80's.


Manual Exterior.


Personal Dosimiters were issued to each observer. They were to be worn when leaving the post. The amount of radiation would be tallied up, those that had been exposed to the maximum could not leave the post until being decontaminated.


Reciever Unit for the WB System. All posts issued with one. They would recieve the messages for attack warning red.


Rare example of a Modern BT Box used at a Seismic Reporting Station until 1998.


Junction Boxes and the Speaker Unit that was connected to the Speech Reciever.


Large Post/Cluster/Sector/Area map of ROC, issued 1973.


Various items of protective clothing. Gloves, Wellington Covers, Coats etc.


All posts issued with a hand operated siren re-used from WWII in some cases. The crates for the sirens still remain at the majority of posts as they were too large to leave the hatch!


Siren - in packed position.


Spares box for the PE (Petrol Electric) Set (Genorater) that all posts were issued with.


All keys officially had only 3 sets of keys. One remained at the Group Headquaters for Engineers etc, one for the Group Officer and one for the Head Observer. In many cases, more than one post observer had keys. They were different for every post. To the left is the key for unlocking scottish posts and to the right the key for all english posts.


Various uniform Items. Large Patch is for Green Coveralls. Three barred epaulettes and badges for Cheif Observer. Number denotes group number. Notice the different in shades. Some are pre 1977 so they were to match the old Battledress Uniform.


This shows how much fuel was back then!


ROC Recruitment Leaflet. There were many issued and i will post some more up soon.


That is all for now - hopefully that will keep you interested for a bit :)

If you want any photos please let me know, dont use without my permission.


Kryp
 
That is interesting, I hadn't seen any of that stuff before. It's surprising what isn't available on the web and maybe those views of equipment isn't ( I havn't seen it). The dosimeters are the same as those which were used in Bucks Fire Brigade. We were allowed three rads in one dose or a maximum of six a year. Trouble was they were worn under the 'protective' clothing so you only knew what you'd got after the fact! You've got to laugh:(
 
You are a man with a mission..or an obsession.
Cheers for all your ROC related help this week - I went for a viewing but the guy never showed up!
What an amazing collection, cant wait to see what else you aquire.
I bet you get a few requests for pics / scans of that poster!
:)
 
Great collection right there, like the seismic thing they have an interesting history!
 
I have got round to photographing a few more things :)

Firstly a photo of all the different variants of keys for the Post Hatches.


Secondly, this is a very rare interface box. There would be several of these in the Group HQ's they would receive the call from Master Posts and there would be a headset attatched.



Seen here in York ROC HQ


Finally
All master posts were equipped with a Burndept 525 Radio. I am now lucky enough to own one.







Seen here in action: C/Obs Harry Wilkinson at Fleetwood Post, Lancs. Notice the speaker to the left. Unfortunatly i cant seem to find one - i will probably make my own.

988261683_Pic2_fleetwood1.jpg
 
Thank you guys - i just think that stuff like this should be visable for all too see - many might not be able to come up north to see my posts but i would still like them to see my collections.

PS

I have loads more to come!!
 
Can't get over how clean and pristene everything is. Great collection! Thanks
 
Did you ask at your local authority and/or police radio workshop for the burndept extension speaker? Worth an ask.
 
Great collection Jack, can i get some copies of some of the paperwork for my post please?! (il pay costs!)

Are your keys all newly fabricated? ive got an original t-bar for my old hatch (its a torlift now)
 
Great collection Jack, can i get some copies of some of the paperwork for my post please?! (il pay costs!)

Are your keys all newly fabricated? ive got an original t-bar for my old hatch (its a torlift now)

Yes of course i will copy some for you, it will be in a few months time though when i collaborate all my stuff togetehr ready for this years open days.

I have some original tbars but all those ones in that picture up have just been fabricated. Can you see the two for the torlift hatch? Theres the plug extractor and the actual key
 
Hello. I'm Phantombish from Hampshire. Sorry for a rubbish welcoming post but some of you may know me from an "other" urban explorations website.

Please see my ROC collection with this link. I'm on my phone so un able to post all the pictures direct.

http://photobucket.com/PhanBishROC

I still have a few more bits like. Teletalk, case 200 and some certificates but haven't had a chance to take the pictures yet. I am fascinated by the Royal Observer Corps. I love collecting there history. I have loads of home office training slides that were used to train each volunteer. I'm In talks at the momment about renting my own ROC post, so hopefully one day I can restore it.

Hope you enjoy
Phantombish.
 

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