The Volunteer Air Observers Corps

The Volunteer Air Observers Corps (VAOC) was formed in December 1941 to support the Royal Australian Air Force (R.A.A.F.) by sighting and observing aircraft over Australia. The VAOC was one of three main civil defence organisations. The others were the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) groups and the Volunteer Defence Corps (VDC).Observation posts were established across Australia, staffed 24 hours per day by volunteers.

At its peak in 1944 there were about 25,000 VAOC volunteers spread across 2,656 posts and 39 control zones. They reported an average of 120,000 aircraft sightings each month.

Most VAOC observers were women, some of whom made the transition to the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF). The WAAAF played an important role coordinating and responding to the messages posted by the VAOC.

VAOC observers were provided with basic training in aircraft identification. Observation posts were established on existing buildings, such as hotels, church towers, or fire spotting towers, or natural features such as hilltops or coastal promontories.

As the threat of invasion passed, the need for the VAOC lessened and it was disbanded progressively from January 1945.

Black and white photograph shows 2 people. On the left is a woman with short curled hair. She is wearing a dark jacket over a pale skirt, and holding a paper notebook open. To the right is a man holding binoculars as if putting them to his eyes, or taking them away. He is wearing worn work-mans jacket and pants.

VAOC members, Miss Marjorie Prout and Mr H. Jackson, on the roof of a Gippsland factory.

black and white photograph showing two women wearing identical dark dresses. One to the right of the image is talking on a telephone while holding a chart. The second sits to her left reading from a paper notebook. On the wall behind them is a chart showing various types of aircraft, with the sides, back, and top of the aircraft in silhouette.

Cecilia Gibson and Margaret Geddes, two young members of the Volunteer Air Observers Corps, sending a report of an aircraft sighting from their post in the hills near Lilydale, Victoria.

black and white photograph shows a tall simply constructed fire tower with narrow stairs leading up to a platform with an enclosed room (approx 1 metre sqaure). A woman stands in a corner of this platform near a rail with a spyglass to her eye. She is wearing a dark suit jacket and skirt.

A fire tower in a Gippsland town, one of many observation posts of the Volunteer Air Observers Corps.

black and white photograph shows 2 boats on slightly choppy water, one is closer to the view, the other further away. The closer boat has 3 passengers, a man at the rear wearing an overcoat and hat, a woman slightly in front of him dressing in coveralls and a knitted scarf wrapped around her head, she is shielding her eyes as if from the sun. The final woman sits at the front of the boat with an overcoat and gloves, staring ahead using binoculars. The far boat appears to have 3 people also, a man in a trench coat and hat is standing up obscuring the 3rd occupant. He has his hand shielding his eyes staring forward. The second occupant is wearing a dark coat and sitting.

VAOC personnel in two motor boats heading to sea to investigate the sighting of an object. The women in the foreground are wearing their duty armbands, but no-one is wearing a life jacket!

Black and white photograph shows 2 women. They are in a rural setting, surrounded by glass, there may be a shore line with beach behind them. One is standing, wearing a striped jumper with a dark pencil skirt. The is holding an implement and repairing a net with large (approx. 10cm) holes. The second woman is sitting in a wicker chair wearing a shirt, dark cardigan and light coloured fitted trousers. She has her right hand holding binoculars to her eyes while she looks up to the sky.

Two members of the VAOC. One scans the sky with binoculars, while the other makes a camouflage net.

black and white photograph shows two women to the left of frame examining the sky, one woman points upwards, while the other uses binoculars. They are in a rural setting, surrounded by grass and hills and a small village in the background.

Women in the Volunteer Air Observers Corps look to the sky.

black and white photograph showing a balcony by the seaside. Two women are working, the one on the left is holding a small telescope while examining what looks like a map. She is wearing a pale swing skirt and checked cardigan. Her companion is seated in a cane chair writing in a book. One of their hats sits on the ledge of the balcony.

Two members of the VAOC on the roof of a seaside observation post.

All images reproduced courtesy State Library Victoria