Rob Forsyth
The Chief Observer of the Deddington post of The Royal Observer Corps was Douglas Hopcraft whose day time job was running his family's building firm. He and his wife Gladys lived in The Mount on Goose Green. Douglas died in 1975 and Gladys in 1997. When the subsequent owner died in 2026 and the house was being cleared ready for sale a number of somewhat mouldy account books were discovered in the cellar. Although the covers were in a very poor state the internal pages were quite readable. The larger number relate to Hopcraft & Sons' business accounts throughout WWII including a 4 inch thick, metal cornered ledger recording all the work the firm carried out in Deddington and local district.
But one accounts type ledger is devoted to recording the names of observers and their and watch keeping shifts at the ROC post on the Hempton Road every day (or rather night) throughout the war.
An example of one page for 16 May 1942 is typical for all nights. It gives the names and their hours of duty.
The last week of watch-keeping after 5 years and 9 months is recorded...
and was also recorded on a separate loose sheet in the ledger which likely was off the notice board.
More about the ROC post can be read in A Parish at War on p.72 et seq.
More about Douglas himself can be found HERE
The ledger is in the Parish Archive along with the company's account ledgers.