Thank you very much for all the input so far. It has been very useful. I've been in touch with Kew and, yes, I will post on V Force reunion web site.
It is difficult for me to come to terms with such a high level of secrecy such as pervades the history of various units in the RAF. In my researches on the USAF I have never encountered any reluctance to talk about the various secret missions in the 50s and 60s and, indeed, I have always found the various departments keen to help. Obtaining records is relatively easy and inexpensive.....it being possible to buy microfilm from the Air Force Historical Research Association at Maxwell very reasonably. I am waiting with some trepidation the estimate from Kew for the copies of 543 Squadron operational records. From Maxwell the equivalent in microfilm for a unit history over the same time scale would have cost about $75.00. We'll see.
A friend, ex Wing Commander, has also found it time consuming and tiresome at times and has no end of hassle just getting permission to use MOD photos. Fortunately he has persisted and published some very interesting and informative books on RAF Cold war history.
All this is a great shame because it could mean that some interesting Cold War stories never get to be properly told, like the Canberra flight over Kapustin Yar for example.....and that was in 1953, nearly 60 years ago.
Wish me luck!!