Establishment of Mobile Defence Corps

Date: April 1, 1955 • Location: London, United Kingdom

The British Army's Mobile Defence Corps, intended to assist with civil defence after a nuclear attack, was established by royal warrant.

The Mobile Defence Corps was a British Army unit intended to assist in civil defence operations in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. It was established in 1955 from British Army and Royal Air Force personnel, with an intended strength of 48 battalions, later reduced to 36 battalions. Officers and non-commissioned officers were volunteers, with many coming from the army's Anti-Aircraft Command, which had disbanded in 1955. The other ranks were generally conscripts from the National Service scheme. The RAF involvement in the unit ceased in 1957. The unit reached a strength of around 14,000 men before being disbanded in 1959 in anticipation of the ending of National Service.