Ceremonial Branch files on the nominations of Civil Defence, Police, National Fire Service, Red Cross, Young Men's Christian Association, and other personnel, for awards with descriptions of the actions warranting recognition.
Most of the information in the files was published in supplements to the London Gazette, but the files also contain unpublished descriptions of the actions leading to nominations for Commendations.
The papers can relate to actions dating from months earlier. On some files, particularly the later ones, there are papers unconnected in any way with civil defence, for example, on awards to civilians who assisted the Allied war effort in occupied countries and following their liberation.