I L J 208,
While I am loathe to defend a system I know to normally be at fault, I would offer the following observations:
Who exactly do you mean by "RAF
PR"? The
PR machine at an airbase, e.g Waddington?
Would information from 1953 still be stored at airbase/Command level, or would it all be in historical records?
Don't underestimate how much fell between the cracks when HQSTC was replaced by HQ Air, and the amount of specialist staff in Groups was reduced across the board.
In recent years a move has been made away from storing via traditional media methods into digital storage. This has also created its own issues with being able to retrieve more elderly data!
Everyone in the RAF are very busy as the numbers reduce still further! FOI requests from the latest MP trying to prove a point take up a massive amount of time and effort, and are given a high priority.
Have you considered getting the information you require via FOI? There is a legal requirement to respond in a fairly short time scale, which may be of benefit in your case.
Having said all that, good luck with your project!