JUST who are the people in the group photograph below?

That is what members of the Dringhouses Local History Group would like to know.

The photo was taken in about 1945 on Knavesmire, and it shows members of the Royal Observer Corps (ROC).

Elizabeth Smith, the local history group's chairwoman, believes the tallish man sitting to the left of centre at the front may have been an officer - possibly an observation lieutenant. But who was he? And does anyone recognise anyone else in the photograph?

The local history group has an instructive exhibition about the wartime role of the ROC running in the foyer at York Central Library at the moment.

The corps played a vital part in monitoring enemy aircraft movements over the area.

A network of spotters scattered at roughly ten-mile intervals all the way to the coast maintained a constant watch of the skies.

They reported back by landline to "plotters" at the corps' headquarters in York. These translated the information on to a large map table, to give a complete picture of enemy aircraft movements.

"Tellers" on a gallery above looking down onto the map table then passed the information on to Fighter Command.

There were two ROC groups operating from York in the war: 9 Group, which covered the North Riding up to County Durham; and 10 Group, which covered the East Riding down to Lincolnshire. Each group had four crews of 50, enabling them to keep watch 24 hours a day.

Until the Baedeker raid in April 1942, both groups were based in an old sorting hut behind the main post office in Lendal.

After the raid, they moved to new premises on Knavesmire; 9 Group to a purpose-built centre beside Tadcaster Road, 10 Group to a building nearby in Knavesmire Road. That building, shown in our second photo in 1958, is now used by Hamilton Panthers Football Club.

The corps continued to play an important role in York after the war - though no longer at the Knavesmire, moving instead to the underground HQ at Shelley House in Holgate in 1961.

Our last two photos show members of 20 Group plotting radioactive fall-out during a simulated atomic attack in 1965, and Major General Ian Baker visiting the underground HQ in 1980.

* If you have any information about any of the people in the group photo below, phone Elizabeth Smith on 01904 703970.