1930's: TOWARDS WAR
Observer Corps Expansion
From the start of the 1930’s, the political situation in Europe deteriorated with the threat from the growth of German air power and the increasing emergence of faster long-range bombers based in Germany. This rendered it necessary to reorientate the air defence system for Great Britain, which ultimately would impact upon the role of the Observer Corps. The thought was that London would be no longer the main key target of any potential attack instead the main focus being for Germany to limit any potential retaliatory measures by Great Britain. Key industrial cities located in the Midlands and North such as Birmingham and Sheffield were now deemed possible targets as a result of their key contribution towards any defence retaliation. Bombs, planes and guns all need steel and the Midlands and especially Sheffield played a considerable part in the production of these items.
Furthermore, transport systems would be a probable target as these were essential for carrying raw materials into and finished products from these manufacturing areas, but also enabled the transport of food, civilians and armed forces. Any damage to these links would ultimately result in considerable impact on the war effort. As a result, key ports such as Immingham and Hulland especially the railways also formed key targets by German bombers.
On 7th and 10th December 1934, a conference chaired by Air Commodore O.T. Boyd, O.B.E, M.C, A.F.C was held. The findings from this conference were subsequently published in a report by Boyd in January 1935. This report highlighted the need for a considerable expansion of the Corps, greater than by any previous reports. Furthermore; bearing in mind the growing threat from Germany, such developments should be progressed as soon as possible over a four year period
with a final completion date for such measures being set at 1st March 1939.
The key outputs from the report recommended;
From the start of the 1930’s, the political situation in Europe deteriorated with the threat from the growth of German air power and the increasing emergence of faster long-range bombers based in Germany. This rendered it necessary to reorientate the air defence system for Great Britain, which ultimately would impact upon the role of the Observer Corps. The thought was that London would be no longer the main key target of any potential attack instead the main focus being for Germany to limit any potential retaliatory measures by Great Britain. Key industrial cities located in the Midlands and North such as Birmingham and Sheffield were now deemed possible targets as a result of their key contribution towards any defence retaliation. Bombs, planes and guns all need steel and the Midlands and especially Sheffield played a considerable part in the production of these items.
Furthermore, transport systems would be a probable target as these were essential for carrying raw materials into and finished products from these manufacturing areas, but also enabled the transport of food, civilians and armed forces. Any damage to these links would ultimately result in considerable impact on the war effort. As a result, key ports such as Immingham and Hulland especially the railways also formed key targets by German bombers.
On 7th and 10th December 1934, a conference chaired by Air Commodore O.T. Boyd, O.B.E, M.C, A.F.C was held. The findings from this conference were subsequently published in a report by Boyd in January 1935. This report highlighted the need for a considerable expansion of the Corps, greater than by any previous reports. Furthermore; bearing in mind the growing threat from Germany, such developments should be progressed as soon as possible over a four year period
with a final completion date for such measures being set at 1st March 1939.
The key outputs from the report recommended;
- There should be a greater geographic coverage of the network of observation posts. This coverage should extend from the current areas developed in the South and South East up to Middlesbrough in the North. The main concentration of these new groups being to the east of the country.
- The area should be controlled by 16 groups (rather than 18 previously recommended in 1924).
- Effective communications should be developed between observation posts and group centres and between group centres and the two RAF fighting area headquarters covering the north and south of the country.
Four stages of group development were therefore identified as a result;
- From 1st March 1935; the creation of No.4 Observer Corps group, based at Oxford; No.12 Observer Corps group, based at Bedford; No.15 Observer Corps group, based at Cambridge and Link Groups created at No.3 Group (Winchester); No.4 Group (Oxford) and No.17 Group (Watford).
- From 1st March 1936; the creation of No.10 Observer Corps group, based at York and No.11 Observer Corps group, based at Lincoln.
- From 1st March 1937; the creation of No.7 Observer Corps group, based at Manchester; No.8 Observer Corps group, based at Leeds and No.9 Observer Corps group, based at York.
- From 1st March 1938; the creation of No.5 Observer Corps group, based at Coventry and No.6 Observer Corps group, based at Derby.
The emphasis was also placed on bringing the control of the Observer Corps closer to the Royal Air Force and hence connects the Corps into the RAF’s programme of expansion and development of an Air Raid Warning system. This system relied to a great degree on the ultimate efficiency of the Corps to supply the necessary quality of information from the Corps posts to the RAF to enable the efficient management and control of its fighters over land.
Munich Crisis
During 1938, the situation within Europe deteriorated sharply. Hitler was keen to progress his plans for German expansion and thereby issued an ultimatum to the Chancellor of Austria to resign control of the country and allow a new Chancellor of Germany's choosing to take control. With his back against a wall and considering the ultimate threat of Germanys’ troops marching into Austria, the Austrian Chancellor resigned his post. He was replaced by a Nazi sympathiser loyal to Hitler who immediately ordered the Austrian army to offer no resistance to German troops who were invited to enter Austria. As a result, Hitler had achieved his plan for Anschlüss - the union of Austria and Germany.
When Austria became a part of Nazi Germany, Czechoslovakia, a country formed out of the victory of the Western Allies over Germany in the First World War, found itself surrounded on three sides and though Britain and France had barely reacted to the previous Anschlüss, Hitler was well aware that he could not invade Czechoslovakia without a reason.
By May 1938, the situation began to worsen still further with Hitler stating:-
"It is my unshakable will that Czechoslovakia shall be wiped off the map."
… and furthermore instructing his Generals to develop a plan for completing this by October 1st. The main focus at this time was in relation to the Sudetenland; which was a small section of the Czech Republic which lay on the border of Germany and many of whose inhabitants were of German descent and were resident there since before the land was made part of a newly created Czechoslovakian state after World War 1.
Many of the pro-Nazi Sudeten Germans began to apply pressure on the Czech Government through terrorist attacks, marches and rallies in the Sudetenland with added pressure from Germany. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met with Hitler at his home in Berchtesgaden. Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia unless Britain supported Germany's plans to regain the Sudetenland as part of Germany. After discussing the issue with the Prime Minister of France (Édouard Daladier) and the Czechoslovakian President (Edvard Beneš); Chamberlain informed Hitler that his proposals were unacceptable.
Hitler, keen to regain the former German lands, knew that Britain and France were unwilling to go to war and also thought it unlikely that these two countries would be keen to join up with the Soviet Union, whose totalitarian system the western democracies hated more that Hitler's fascist dictatorship. The premier of Italy, Benito Mussolini who was a close ally of Hitler, therefore suggested to Hitler that one way of solving this issue was to hold a four-power conference of Germany, Britain, France and Italy. This would exclude both Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, and therefore increasing the possibility of reaching an agreement and undermine the solidarity that was developing against Germany.
The meeting took place in Munich on 29th September 1938. Desperate to avoid war and anxious to avoid an alliance with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier of France agreed to Germanys request to regain the Sudetenland as part of Germany. On the 30th September 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed transferring the Sudetenland to Germany. As part of this Hitler promised not to make any further territorial demands in Europe. When Czechoslovakia's head of state; Edvard Beneš, protested at this decision, Neville Chamberlain stressed that Britain was unwilling to go to war over the issue of the
Sudetenland.
The Munich Agreement was popular with most people in Britain because it appeared to have prevented a war with Germany. However, some politicians, including Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden, criticised the agreement pointing out that not only had the British government behaved dishonourably, but had also lost the total support of the Czech Army.
In March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. In taking this action Hitler had broken the Agreement signed in Munich that previous year. The British prime minister now realised that Hitler could not be trusted and his appeasement policy now came to an end. On 3rd September 1939, Neville Chamberlain announced to the nation that the country was at war with Germany. To some, this was no surprise. Since the mid 1930s, tensions had been developing within Germany and many believed that it was simply a case of not IF but WHEN. This belief had directed operational developments within the Observer Corps through a number of exercises during 1938.
Many of the pro-Nazi Sudeten Germans began to apply pressure on the Czech Government through terrorist attacks, marches and rallies in the Sudetenland with added pressure from Germany. In September 1938, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, met with Hitler at his home in Berchtesgaden. Hitler threatened to invade Czechoslovakia unless Britain supported Germany's plans to regain the Sudetenland as part of Germany. After discussing the issue with the Prime Minister of France (Édouard Daladier) and the Czechoslovakian President (Edvard Beneš); Chamberlain informed Hitler that his proposals were unacceptable.
Hitler, keen to regain the former German lands, knew that Britain and France were unwilling to go to war and also thought it unlikely that these two countries would be keen to join up with the Soviet Union, whose totalitarian system the western democracies hated more that Hitler's fascist dictatorship. The premier of Italy, Benito Mussolini who was a close ally of Hitler, therefore suggested to Hitler that one way of solving this issue was to hold a four-power conference of Germany, Britain, France and Italy. This would exclude both Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, and therefore increasing the possibility of reaching an agreement and undermine the solidarity that was developing against Germany.
The meeting took place in Munich on 29th September 1938. Desperate to avoid war and anxious to avoid an alliance with Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier of France agreed to Germanys request to regain the Sudetenland as part of Germany. On the 30th September 1938, the Munich Agreement was signed transferring the Sudetenland to Germany. As part of this Hitler promised not to make any further territorial demands in Europe. When Czechoslovakia's head of state; Edvard Beneš, protested at this decision, Neville Chamberlain stressed that Britain was unwilling to go to war over the issue of the
Sudetenland.
The Munich Agreement was popular with most people in Britain because it appeared to have prevented a war with Germany. However, some politicians, including Winston Churchill and Anthony Eden, criticised the agreement pointing out that not only had the British government behaved dishonourably, but had also lost the total support of the Czech Army.
In March, 1939, the German Army seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. In taking this action Hitler had broken the Agreement signed in Munich that previous year. The British prime minister now realised that Hitler could not be trusted and his appeasement policy now came to an end. On 3rd September 1939, Neville Chamberlain announced to the nation that the country was at war with Germany. To some, this was no surprise. Since the mid 1930s, tensions had been developing within Germany and many believed that it was simply a case of not IF but WHEN. This belief had directed operational developments within the Observer Corps through a number of exercises during 1938.
Image Source: Image based on Winslow, T.E., Forewarded is Forearmed, 1948