RE: Manor Mystery (Your Letters, July 9), what mystery?

The establishment located at Pale Manor Farm was one of the wartime major participants in the fight to keep our forces supplied with modern weaponry. In this case, the army, with radar suitable to its requirements.

Like thousands of company premises as well as Govern-ment establishments, the site was surrounded by strong, high fences, but not as implied to keep the occupants 'in', but the snooper 'out'.

For the same reason, as at other places, the gates were manned by armed policemen, in this case the War Office constabulary, a civilian force often drawn from normal police forces and retirees.

Here at Pale Manor, much innovative radar equipment for use on the battlefield was researched, designed and introduced to the army by some 2,000 scientists, engineers and supporting staff, including workshop operatives.

Mortar locators, vehicle movements detectors, shell splash error detectors, anti-aircraft gunnery control and use of radar in meteorology are but some of the examples.

The establishment concerned was the Air Defence Research and Development Establishment (ADRDE) at the time the gentlemen came to Pale Manor, later, in 1944 to be renamed the Radar Research and Development Establishment (RRDE).

A look at the Malvern Gazette between May and September 1985, available at Malvern Library, will reveal a series of articles about the equipment and various groups working in the organisation.

ADRDE was originally formed as a 'Searchlight Investigation Group' drawn from experienced army searchlight operators in 1917, to improve the performance of searchlights in defence against air raids by both Zeppelins and aircraft.

It was civilianised in 1919 (taking in many of the army staff as they were demobilised) and named as the Searchlight Establishment.

In 1922, other staff involved in air defence joined the establishment, now at Biggen Hill, and the Air Defence Experimental Establishment was born. It moved first in 1939 to Christchurch, Hants, and then in 1942 was evacuated to Malvern.

There was a second radar establishment, the Telecomm-unications Research Esta-blishment (TRE) also in Malvern, occupying the Boys' College, having been evacuated from the south coast only days after ADRDE had moved.

ADRDE arrived in Malvern to take over the site from the RAF Radio Training School, including its living quarters, a large standard 'herring bone' building (at the moment, still standing with little change expect for an imposing two- storey front block).

Rooms were shared by two or three friends and certainly there were no 'dormitories'. Meals were taken in a very well run canteen, which operated from around 7am to 9pm.

As for pay, scientific and administrative staff were paid on rates based on standard Civil Service grades and industrial staff on standard union rates.

Hours of work were at that time controlled by ministerial edict, and certainly all staff were working six day weeks and often six and a half.

There was an excellent camaraderie among the staff, as Mr Dunbar would have found out if he had stayed.

The staff brought with them from Christchurch a 'staff club', operating in one of the blocks outside the perimeter fence and this club, now opened to other civil servants, still operates today at its Pickersleigh Avenue site (next to Morgan).

In about 1954, an annual 'air defence reunion' was started, still going strong and next meeting on October 9 at the club.

Donald H Tomlin, Malvern.