Letter: Observing history

Sir: It is eight years since that fine voluntary service, the Royal Observer Corps, was stood down. There is a real risk that this unassuming and little- recognised organisation that kept watch for unwelcome intruders (and saved 4,000 wartime aircrew whose navigation aids had failed) will soon be forgotten.

I recently took a selection of old newspaper cuttings, letters from grateful allied airmen, ROC proficiency certificates and the like and gave them to my local county record office. The astonished archivist was delighted to fill this gap in her wartime records.

May I call on all men and women who served in the ROC to search their cupboards and donate ROC memorabilia to their local record office? This material will be studied by researchers and sixth-formers for years to come and ensure that the memory of the ROC will not be forgotten.