I have just read the message posted by Henry Matthews related to the disposal of photographic records of the former RAE and DERA Farnborough. It is unfortunate that Mr Matthews, although undoubtedly of good intent, is perhaps unwittingly responsible for dispelling a certain amount of misinformation which is causing unnecessary concern in some quarters. Regretably his article does not tell the entire story. Perhaps if it did so it would appear less dramatic. The facts are these:
The photographic records of the former RAE and DRA/DERA Farnborough fall within the auspices of the Public Records Office who are ultimately responsible for their care and, if need be, disposal. The recent privatisation of the former DERA has meant that the records previously held by them require a new home. Accordingly, the PRO has elected that the Imperial War Museum act on their behalf to safeguard such records and make them available for public access. Necessarily a significant weeding of the records is necessary if only because of the sheer volume of them, (circa 550,000 images!!), a large portion of which are arguably of no real interest. Our organisation was concerned lest that the sorting process, necessarily imperfect through sheer practicality, would allow important records of the work of RAE to be inadvertently destroyed. The Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) has been successful in negotiating with the IWM and PRO that ALL RECORDS not required by the IWM WILL BE presented to our organisation. Additionally and importantly, a selection of both our members and former employees of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, expert in the content of the records, will be employed in the sorting process working under the expert guidance of the IWM, this process starting next month. There is therefore no question of ANY material being initially considered "ephemeral" and destroyed. It is possible, and in fact near certain, that a lot of the material will ultimately fall into that category BUT NOT BEFORE careful scrutiny by our group of volunteers. You may also be sure that if we find material that is not related to RAE but of interest to other specialist then they will be contacted.
FAST has reached the agreement with the PRO by means of lengthy, sensitive discussion and negotiation with good intent displayed by all parties. To besiege the PRO with e-mails will serve no positive purpose whatsoever and will only serve to jeopardise the agreement that has been put in place. Readers who are unaware of FAST and its supporting organisation FASTA are welcome to visit our web site at
www.fasta.co.uk.
Please help us preserve the heritage of the RAE, Farnborough - the Home of British Aviation
Mike Baker - Chairman, Royal Aircraft Establishment Heritage Group, Farnborough Air Sciences Trust