List of ROC Group Headquarters and UKWMO Sector controls

This is a list of the locations for former Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Group Headquarters and the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) sector controls that received information from ROC posts by dedicated GPO/BT landlines. Clusters of posts also had VHF radio communications with HQs and sector controls, in case of land-line failure, from the cluster Master Posts.

The Royal Observer Corps was a civil defence organisation operating in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down. (ROC headquarters staff at RAF Bentley Priory stood down on 31 March 1996). Composed mainly of civilian spare-time volunteers, ROC personnel wore a Royal Air Force (RAF) style uniform and latterly came under the administrative control of RAF Strike Command and the operational control of the Home Office. Civilian volunteers were trained and administered by a small cadre of professional full-time officers under the command of the Commandant Royal Observer Corps; latterly a serving RAF Air Commodore.

ROC Group Headquarters

ROC Group No. 1 - Maidstone
ROC Group No. 2 - Horsham
ROC Group No. 3 - Oxford
ROC Group No. 4 - Colchester
ROC Group No. 5 - Watford
ROC Group No. 6 - Norwich
ROC Group No. 7 - Bedford
ROC Group No. 8 - Coventry
ROC Group No. 9 - Yeovil
ROC Group No. 10 - Exeter
ROC Group No. 11 - Truro
ROC Group No. 12 - Bristol
ROC Group No. 13 - South Wales
ROC Group No. 14 - Winchester
ROC Group No. 15 - Lincoln - (RAF Fiskerton)
ROC Group No. 16 - Shrewsbury
ROC Group No. 17 - North Wales (RAF Wrexham)
ROC Group No. 18 - Leeds
ROC Group No. 19 - Manchester
ROC Group No. 20 - York
ROC Group No. 21 - Preston (Goosnargh)
ROC Group No. 22 - Carlisle (RAF Carlisle)
ROC Group No. 23 - Durham
ROC Group No. 24 - Edinburgh (RAF Turnhouse)
- 1953 - 1964 Barnton Quarry
ROC Group No. 25 - Ayr
ROC Group No. 27 - Oban
ROC Group No. 28 - Dundee
ROC Group No. 29 - Aberdeen
ROC Group No. 30 - Inverness
ROC Group No. 31 - Belfast (Thiepval Barracks)
- 1954-1959 Castlereagh, Belfast

UKWMO Sectors and groups

Metropolitan sector

1 Group - Maidstone (group headquarters at Ashmore House, Maidstone)
2 Group - Horsham (sector headquarters)
3 Group - Oxford (peacetime national headquarters)
4 Group - Colchester
14 Group - Winchester

Midlands sector

6 Group - Norwich (group headquarters at Old Catton)
7 Group - Bedford
8 Group - Coventry (group headquarters at Lawford Heath)
15 Group - Lincoln (group and sector headquarters at RAF Fiskerton)
20 Group - York (group headquarters at Acomb)

Southern sector

9 Group - Yeovil
10 Group - Exeter (group headquarters at Poltimore Park)
12 Group - Bristol (group and sector headquarters at Lansdown, Bath)
13 Group - Carmarthen

Western sector

16 Group - Shrewsbury
17 Group - Wrexham (group headquarters at RAF Wrexham)
21 Group - Preston (sector headquarters - wartime national headquarters)
22 Group - Carlisle (group headquarters at RAF Carlisle)
31 Group - Belfast (group headquarters at Thiepval Barracks)

Caledonian sector

24 Group - Edinburgh (group headquarters at RAF Turnhouse)
25 Group - Ayr
28 Group - Dundee (group headquarters at Craigiebarns)
- 1964 - 1976 School Hill, Aberdeenshire
29 Group - Aberdeen (group headquarters at Northfield)
30 Group - Inverness (group headquarters at Raigmore)

Map of ROC Group Headquarters and UKWMO Sector Controls

Map of the United Kingdom showing former ROC Group Headquarters and United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation Sector and Group Controls. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)