Post-war Civil Defence Corps Badges & Insignia 1949-1968

During the Second World War the Civil Defence Services worked to alleviate issues caused by enemy bombing. This service was stood down in May 1945.

With the growing tensions of the Cold War, in 1949* the Civil Defence Corps (CDC) was set up to be mobilised within and to control an area following a major national emergency, principally envisaged as being a nuclear attack. It was stood down in Great Britain in 1968 (although the Isle of Man Civil Defence Corps remains active).

I often get asked about various examples of Civil Defence insignia and quite a few items are from the Civil Defence Corps. A lot are unfortunately sold as being from the Second World War and this confuses some new collectors and a lot of re-enactors. Some re-enactors also wear a mix of wartime and post-war CD insignia.

* The Civil Defence Act was passed in December 1948 but the Corps really started in 1949.

Civil Defence Corps Recruitment Poster

Civil Defence Corps Pattern No. C.D.C. 3 Lapel Badge

Probably the most ubiquitous badge of the Civil Defence Corps found is the small lapel badge. The emblem in the centre was changed for groups outside of England and Wales.

Civil Defence Corps Pattern No. C.D.C. 3 Lapel Badge

Civil Defence Corps Breast Badges

These are the simplest to discern as they actually have Civil Defence Corps written on them. Worn on the battledress pocket and also sewn onto a beret. The badge can be found with both the King's Crown and Queen's Crown (post-1953). England and Wales had a lion motif and Scotland a lion on haunches (note: it appears the Scottish badge always features the King's crown). The Isle of Man features the three-legged symbol (triskelion).

The King's crown version of the badge remained in stores and was issued right into the 1960s. 1960s-dated berets can therefore have a King's crown badge attached, for example.

Civil Defence Corps Breast and Beret Badge (England & Wales)

Civil Defence Corps ICDS (Industrial Civil Defence Service) Breast and Beret Badge

Civil Defence Corps Breast and Beret Badge (Scotland)

Civil Defence Corps Shoulder Titles

Of all the Civil Defence Corps badges that cause confusion, the plethora of shoulder titles causes the most confusion. Placed at the tip of each shoulder the main way to differentiate post-war area tiles is the use of a much yellower thread than during the war.

Whilst the Civil Defence Corps used a number of titles found during the Second World War - WARDEN, RESCUE and AMBULANCE - they also introduced several new titles unique to the corps. These include HEADQUARTERS, SIGNAL, WELFARE, INTELLIGENCE & OPERATIONS and SCIENTIFIC & RECCE.

Within the Industrial Civil Defence Service (ICDS) there were FIRST AID and FIRE GUARD sections (the fire guard titles are often confused with wartime versions (again look at the thread colour).

There was also the FOOD FLYING SQUAD that provided emergency feeding programmes.

Comparison of the thread colour for a WW2 'old gold' colour (Warden) and post-war Civil Defence Corps 'yellow' (Ambulance) stitching

Civil Defence Corps Area Markings

Nearly every location ion the UK within the Civil Defence Corps was issued with an area marking title. They can be difficult to differentiate from WW2 area markings. Again the thread colour is often a tell-tale sign as well as black backing with square corners.

While a lot of the wartime area markings had a border (both on the oblong and curved types), a number had curved titles without a border. These are the most difficult to identify.

WW2 Civil Defence insignia (left) V. Post-war Civil Defence Corps insignia (right)

Civil Defence Corps Rank Badges

The Civil Defence Corps used similar ranking badges to those in the Second World War. However, they were made in a different material. Rank chevrons (consisting of two and three chevrons) were issued for junior roles and officers used an expanded set of narrow and broad bars.

In many instances Civil Defence Corps officers wore their rank on the epaulette of their battledress rather than the upper arm.

The various ranks are described on this Wikipedia page

Proficiency (Bounty) Stars

Members of the Civil Defence Corps could undertake various training programmes. Progress through these would allow the wearing of stars on the bottom of the right sleeve, four inches from the cuff. Civil Defence Circular 9/1957 introduced three different proficiency badges, they all featured five points (WW2 stars were six pointed):

Silver Star - indicated that a volunteer had completed standard training.
Silver Star with Scarlet Flash - indicated that a volunteer having completed standard training, had undertaken additional training.
Gold Star with Scarlet Flash - This indicated that a volunteer had successfully completed a course of additional training.

It has been often incorrectly stated that the red star backing was for a driver. This is simply wrong.

Civil Defence Corps for Gold & Silver Proficiency Stars

Civil Defence Corps Silver Proficiency Star

Civil Defence Corps Gold Proficiency Star

Civil Defence Corps First Aid Badge (England and Wales) & Casualty Warden (Scotland)

Those Civil Defence Corps members trained in first aid in England and Wales could wear a circular First Aid badge on the lower part of their left sleeve.

In Scotland there was a slightly different system in operation and Casualty Wardens wore the C in a laurel (again on the lower left sleeve). As the Scottish Ambulance Service carried out the functions of the Ambulance Section of the Civil Defence Corps in Scotland, casualty wardens were present to provide first aid cover until the Scottish Ambulance Service arrived to take over.

Civil Defence Corps First Aid Badge (England & Wales)

Scottish Civil Defence Corps Casualty Warden Badge

Civil Defence Corps member with Instructor and First Aid badges (1968 stand down parade in London)

Civil Defence Corps Instructors' Enamel Badges

Introduced with CD Circular 19/1959, three Instructor badges became available for wear on civilian clothes (they all featured the Queen's crown):

Gold (red enamel) - 'Special Pass' Certificate issued by Civil Defence Central Schools.
Silver (red enamel) - 'Pass' Certificate issued by Civil Defence Central Schools.
Blue - 'Pass' Certificate issued by Local Authority Schools.

Civil Defence Corps Gold Instructor Badge

Civil Defence Corps Silver Instructor Badge

Civil Defence Corps Blue Instructor Badge

Civil Defence Corps Instructors' Embroidered Badges

For wear on the battledress, on the lower left sleeve, embroidered badges in gold, silver and blue were available to all instructors. They featured the letter I inside a laurel.

Civil Defence Corps Instructors' Embroidered Badges in Gold, Silver and Blue

Civil Defence Corps Yellow Armbands and Casualty Collection White Armband

Civil Defence Corps armbands are easy to date due the use of the CDC wording. Armbands include "AMBULANCE", "WARDEN", "WELFARE", "RESCUE", "HEADQUARTERS" and the rare "FOOD FLYING SQAUD" (run by the WVS). Armbands feature both the king's as well as queen's crown. The Casualty Collection armband is also post war.

Interestingly, regarding the Casualty Collection armband, a sealed pattern example of November 1955 still shows the continued use of a king's crown even after Elizabeth acceded to the throne in 1952.

Civil Defence Corps yellow armband

Civil Defence Corps white Casualty Collection armband

Civil Defence Corps Stand Down 1968

On 31 March 1968, the Civil Defence Corps (CDC), Industrial Civil Defence Service (ICDS), Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) and the National Hospital Service Reserve (NHSR) were stood down and disbanded by the government.

Voluntary Civil Aid Service (VCAS)

The Voluntary Civil Aid Service (VCAS) was a very late 1960s civil defence group. It came into effect when the Civil Defence Corps was stood down in 1968 but was very short lived (disappearing in the early 1970s). Initially titled as the ‘National Voluntary Civil Aid Service’ later as VCAS, they adopted a shoulder title bearing VCAS and a breast badge of a phoenix rising from the ashes, with the motto ‘Resurgam’ (Latin for "I Am Rising Again"). Area titles for counties, towns and London areas are know to exist. It would appear they also maintained the rank structure of the Civil Defence Corps as well as instructor badges.