216 Intelligence Section in Operation GRANBY (Gulf War 1991)
DSA / Medmenham Association “Zoom” Lecture – Mon 17 July 2023
“216 Intelligence Section in Operation GRANBY (Gulf War 1991)” by Mr Peter Jefferies. The talk covers Peter’s personal recollections of the operations in 1990-91 of 216 Int Sect, informally known as the JARIC Team, which was originally made up of the more experienced members of the Army’s Reserve Imagery Analysts (IA) from 21 Int Coy (V). By 1990 the section was staffed by younger personnel who brought a different dynamic to the original long term task, which was to support British Army of the Rhine (BOAR) by looking at logistics targets in East Germany, through exploitation of corridor photography from the permitted air routes to Berlin. Suddenly this Sect had to be switched to support Operation GRANBY, the liberation of Kuwait.
Background to our speaker:
Peter Jefferies joined the Royal Artillery (TA) in 1961 and subsequently transferred as a Regular to the INT CORPS in 1962. In 1969 he qualified as a Photographic Interpreter (PI) and until 1983 served in 6 Int Coy in Germany, at JARIC at RAF Brampton and with the RA Midge Drone Tp. After leaving the Regular Army, Peter joined the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) and subsequently the Defence Export Services Organisation (DESO). In 1984 Peter joined the INT CORPS (TA) in their PI Coy and left in 1997, his last appointment being as the Coy Commander. He had co-authored a book on the Berlin Air Corridor photographic collection operations during the Cold War, entitled “Looking Down the Corridors”.