Telecommunications Research Establishment

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TRE Malvern huts in winter 1942-3

The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was established in Worth Matravers, which is four miles to the west of Swanage, UK, in May 1940, as the central research group for RAF applications of radar. It moved to Malvern College, Worcestershire in August 1942 because of fears that the Germans might launch their own Biting-like commando raid against it if it had remained by the coast.

Development of radar had been initiated by Sir Henry Tizard's Aeronautical Research Committee in 1935 at Orfordness near Ipswich. The group moved to the nearby Bawdsey Research Station in 1936 and from there to Worth Matravers in early summer 1940.

TRE worked closely with the MI6 science advisor, R. V. Jones, in countering the Luftwaffe's navigational beam technology to hamper the enemy's ability to do pinpoint night bombing raids in what has become known as the battle of the beams.

Another major wartime development was H2S radar using the newly developed cavity magnetron, for use by RAF bombers to identify ground targets for night and all-weather bombing.

TRE was combined with the Army Radar Establishment in 1953 to become the Radar Research Establishment - and was renamed the Royal Radar Establishment in 1957. It became the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment when the Army Signals Research and Development Establishment (SRDE) moved to Malvern in about 1980. The whole was swallowed by the Defence Research Agency in 1992, later to be split into the private sector company QinetiQ and the government DSTL.

In 1942 the staffing level was about 2000 people, by 1945 increased electronics production had increased this number to around 3500 staff.