The Civil Defence Corps was a civilian volunteer organisation established in Great Britain in 1949 to take control in the aftermath of a nuclear attack. It was stood down in Great Britain in 1968. Civil Defence Corps still exist on the Isle of Man and in the Republic of Ireland.
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Although under the authority of the Home Office, with a centralised administrative establishment, the corps was administered locally by Corps Authorities. In general every county was a Corps Authority, as were most county boroughs in England and Wales and large burghs in Scotland. The CDC was never established in Northern Ireland. Each Corps Authority established its own Division of the corps.
Each division was divided into several sections.
In London the City of London and London boroughs were Corps Authorities, but their divisions only had Headquarters, Warden and Welfare Sections. The London County Council organised the Rescue and Ambulance and First Aid Sections centrally and also shared responsibility for the Welfare Sections.
Members of the corps were issued with dark blue battledress and berets. A system of horizontal bars and point-down chevrons was used to indicate rank.
| Rank Insignia | Intelligence & Operations Sub-Section | Signal Sub-Section | Scientific & Recce Sub-Section | Warden Section | Rescue Section | Welfare Section | Ambulance Sub-Section | First Aid Sub-Section |
| Two wide bars with one narrow bar between | Division Chief Officer | Chief Warden | Chief Rescue Officer | Chief Welfare Section Officer | Chief Ambulance Officer | |||
| Two wide bars | Senior Staff Officer | Senior Signal Officer | Senior Scientific Intelligence Officer | Deputy Chief Warden | Deputy Chief Rescue Officer | Deputy Chief Welfare Section Officer | Deputy Chief Ambulance Officer | |
| One wide bar with two narrow bars above | Column Rescue Officer | Column Ambulance Officer | ||||||
| One wide bar with one narrow bar above | Assistant Chief Warden | Deputy Column Rescue Officer | Deputy Column Ambulance Officer | |||||
| One wide bar | Staff Officer (Operations) Staff Officer (Intelligence) Sector Staff Officer |
Signal Officer | Scientific Intelligence Officer Reconnaissance Officer |
Sector Warden | Company Rescue Officer | Assistant Chief Welfare Section Officer | Company Ambulance Officer | Company First Aid Officer |
| Three narrow bars | Deputy Sector Warden | Deputy Company Rescue Officer | Senior Welfare Section Officer | Deputy Company Ambulance Officer | Deputy Company First Aid Officer | |||
| Two narrow bars | Post Warden | Platoon Rescue Officer | Platoon Ambulance Officer | Platoon First Aid Officer | ||||
| One narrow bar | Signalmaster | Deputy Post Warden | Deputy Platoon Rescue Officer | Welfare Section Officer | Deputy Platoon Ambulance Officer | Deputy Platoon First Aid Officer | ||
| Three chevrons | Operations Clerk Intelligence Clerk |
Signal Clerk Field Cable Party Leader |
Reconnaissance Party Leader | Senior Warden | Rescue Party Leader | Welfare Section Detachment Leader | Ambulance Detachment Leader | First Aid Party Leader |
| Two chevrons | Deputy Rescue Party Leader | Deputy Ambulance Detachment Leader | Deputy First Aid Party Leader | |||||
| One chevron | ||||||||
The Industrial Civil Defence Service was a similar organisation to the Civil Defence Corps, but separate from it. Every industrial or commercial undertaking which employed two hundred or more people could form a civil defence unit to protect its own property and staff. These units were organised in a similar way to the Civil Defence Corps, with Headquarters, Warden, Rescue, First Aid and Fire Guard Sections. The Fire Guard Section manned fire points and smaller fire appliances. Each unit had its own control post, and groups of units could form a group control post. Group control posts and control posts in larger factories had the status of warden posts in their own right, whereas smaller units answered to their local Civil Defence Corps warden post.