Civil Defence Corps Recruitment

Recruitment for the Corps used a variety of methods, including press advertisements, films, posters, word of mouth etc. Examples of some of the films may be found on the Civil Defence Corps Films page. Each division had its own publicity budget, as did individual units, and was responsible for its own advertising. Each year there were local Civil Defence Weeks with high profile events, plus door-to-door canvassing, the only year that this didn't occur was 1959, due to a general election. In addition newspaper and magazine advertisements appeared on a regular basis, and posters were displayed in public buildings such as town halls and libraries. Nationally the Home Office used postmark franking. Many of the recruitment materials included the Auxiliary Fire Service, National Hospital Service Reserve, and occasionally the Special Constabulary. Interestingly there was very rarely a mention of the Royal Observer Corps, some of us regarded them as a rather secretive elite.

Some local Corps authorities provided visiting speakers to other organisations, such as local Townswomen's Guilds, amateur radio clubs and the like. Advertising was also conducted via radio and the cinema, where a number of "shorts" and news items were commonly shown between the main films, examples can be found on the CD films page.

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1949 Rescue Section

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The first recruits to the Corps were largely made up from those who had been in wartime Civil Defence, and from those who had been in the armed services, provided they were not subject to recall or already serving in territorial or reserve units. Initially growth was fairly rapid, and by the end of the first year there were about 32,000 members. This caused some issues as the numbers of volunteers exceeded the amount of equipment available, this was not rectified until 1951/2. The first recruitment targets were exceeded, the only time that this was to happen during the life of the Corps. Many of these early recruits, especially those with wartime service attended special training courses at the Home Office training schools and became instructors, the courses were extremely tough and there was a high failure rate, as much as 60%. For many years the Corps had a very large percentage of ex-service personnel, and former members of Second World War Civil Defence. There was never a large number of younger members. Later still an emphasis was placed upon social matters, such as the fact that most units had a bar, ours was open on a Friday evening, it was popular among members as of course the customers had much in common, and alcohol was cheap. There were also occasional social events, such as a quiz night, a beetle drive, or a Christmas party. Corps members were encouraged to join the local social club. Alongside the bar hatch, in our case, was a small shelf with the WB400A warning receiver on it.

Most of the advertising was across the board, but sometimes it was more targeted towards particular Corps specialisms, sections were even named when there were specific shortages.

When a potential recruit responded to advertising they were encouraged to attend an introductory meeting at the local Corps training centre/hq, these were held several times a year. A typical introductory meeting would include a 16mm film or 35mm slideshow, a talk by one of the instructors, and maybe a simple demonstration by one of the sections. At the end of the session those who wished to proceed would have signed an application form, which included a statement of training requirements and terms of membership of the Corps, and the Official Secrets Acts declaration. This did not mean they had become full members of the Corps, to do this they had to attend a minimum number of sessions and complete a basic training test. Typically this would take a couple of months to complete, following which they would receive their uniform and an ID/membership card, as well as a lapel badge for wear when in civvies. After the completion of initial training recruits would attend a session where they would choose the particular section they wished to join. Once in a section members would then be expected to complete section training, the first part would take about six months, after which a certificate was awarded upon passing of the required test. Following this were an intermediate test which would take about another year, and then an advanced test.

Of course probably the most important recruitment approach was word-of-mouth, members of the Corps were encouraged to approach friends and family, but were advised not to be too specific in case they breached the Official Secrets Acts. This latter threat was seen as very real, as there were numerous spy cases during the Cold War in the UK. What we could have disclosed would be pretty general knowledge today, but probably somewhat more accurate.

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