Papers of Ralph Thrale, 1916-1984, mainly relating to the Royal Observer Corps, including: memoir 'Seaborne', co-authored by Thrale, detailing experiences of Thrale and a colleague while Royal Observer Corps 'Seaborne' volunteers posted to merchant shipping as aircraft identifiers, 1944; Thrale's Royal Navy certificate of service, 1944, and Royal Observer Corps certificate of war service, 1946.
The collection also includes publications collected by Thrale on related topics, including books: Aircraft of the fighting powers by H J Cooper and O G Thetford (Harborough Publishing Company, Leicester, 1941); Britain's wonderful Air Force edited by Air Cdre Peregrine Forbes Morant Fellowes (Odhams Press, London, 1942); Forewarned is forearmed: the authorized history of the Royal Observer Corps by T E Winslow (William Hodge & Co, London, 1948) and Observers' tale: the story of Group 17 of the ROC edited by H Ramsden Whitty, Commandant, 17 Group, Royal Observer Corps (London, 1950). Journals: The Journal of the Royal Observer Corps Club, Oct 1941-Nov 1942 and an incomplete run of Aircraft recognition Sep 1942-Sep 1984. Ministry of Information publications: The Battle of Britain, August-October 1940 (HMSO, 1941); Coastal Command (HMSO, 1943) and Combined Operations, 1940-1942 (HMSO, 1943). Also The Bystander's Fragments from France, volumes of cartoons by Bruce Bairnsfather detailing life in the trenches (numbers 1-6, c 1916-1918) and article, 'The reply to English propaganda' by Joseph Paul Goebbels, translated from German and reprinted from Völkischer Beobachter, 14 Jul 1939.
Thrale , Ralph , 1905-1993