I am conducting research into a top secret RAF intelligence gathering facility, codename 'Hillside' that was based at Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire during WWII. Hillside produced target maps for Bomber Command. It made and printed the maps for the dams raid, among others. Does anyone have informatoin about Hillside? Trying to conduct research is proving very difficult due to the fact that it was a top secret facility. Thank you, James. --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

On Mon, 3 Apr 2006 12:15:07 -0700 (PDT), James Hodges <jameshodges1970@yahoo.com> wrote: >I am conducting research into a top secret RAF intelligence gathering facility, codename 'Hillside' that was based at Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire during WWII. Hillside produced target maps for Bomber Command. It made and printed the maps for the dams raid, among others. > > Does anyone have informatoin about Hillside? Trying to conduct research is proving very difficult due to the fact that it was a top secret facility. It sounds an interesting project - apart from "Hillside", do you know if the unit that was based there had a designation, like "12 Topographic Unit"? (I made this up just now, so don't go hunting for it!) If that is known, it may be possible to find operational records regarding the facility in the catalogue of the National Archives at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp?j=1 See http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=155 for a leaflet about some of these records. Looking at your two previous posts, if he was a civilian, then I don't think there's much chance of finding his personnel record. As far as I know, personnel records for civilian Government employees are not available, although I'd be very interested to know if they are. Have you tried the RAF Museum at Hendon? See http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/research/index.cfm for their research page. You also mention earlier that an Army officer, Major Quaiffe, commanded the unit. The Army List for Jan 1943 lists a Captain A P Quaife of the Royal Engineers. He is shown as being a General Staff Officer Grade 3 (GSO3) on a Regular Army Emergency Commission working for the Department of the Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the War Office, and he certainly fits the bill nicely. He would have been a civilian before the war, and no doubt had special skills which were needed by the War Office. He (and indeed your grandfather) may have worked for the Ordnance Survey, which is the UK Government mapping agency - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnance_Survey and http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/media/features/introos/ The London Gazette at http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/archiveSearch.asp?WebType=0&Referer=WW1 shows that Adrian Patrick Quaife joined the Royal Engineers in WW2, but had previously been an officer in the Dorsetshire Regiment in WW1. He was awarded the MBE in the 1944 Birthday Honours List as a Captain (Temporary Major). The Royal Engineers are the Army's mapping and survey specialists, so a commission with them ties in very well. See 3/4 of the way down http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_his_special.htm and also http://www.remuseum.org.uk/rem_research.htm Major Quaife died on 19 Sep 1971, and The Times of 24 Sep 1971 carried a death notice for him. Sorry I don't have anything about Hillside or Hughenden Manor, but the above might give you some leads to follow. Forrest -- Forrest Anderson, Edinburgh, Scotland. E-mail: forrest@military-researcher.com Website: www.military-researcher.com Forrestdale Research - Military Genealogical Researcher