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personal recollections of the operations in 1990-91 of 216 Int Sect, informally known as the JARIC Team, which was originally made up of the more experienced members of the Army’s Reserve Imagery Analysts (IA) from 21 Int Coy (V).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”.

Mr Andrew Hinton's talk on Marine Cartography in UK Waters given on Mon 14 Nov 2022. His talk goes through what makes a navigational chart different from a land map, differences between a paper chart and ENC, the dynamic nature of the marine environment around the UK, mobile sea areas, and how the UKHO keeps its users updated and the particular issues it faces when compiling a chart from survey data.

The talk will be given by Mr Martyn Barber on “O.G.S. Crawford – from RFC Observer to Aerial Archaeologist”. Martyn Barber is the Senior Investigator in Historic England’s Aerial Investigation and Mapping team, based in Swindon. Over the last 20 years, he has been involved in numerous projects involving the analysis of aerial imagery, including the Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Site. Martyn also has a research interest in the history of aerial photography, and has published a book (‘A History of Aerial Photography and Archaeology': English Heritage 2011) and several papers on the subject, focusing particularly on the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Martyn has also been researching the life of OGS Crawford – the man responsible for bringing aerial photography into archaeology in the years following the First World War.

DSA Webinar presented by Mark Taylor on Monday 14th February 2022 After completing a degree in Psychology, Mark Taylor embarked on a career in the film industry working both in front and behind the camera. He joined the Army Reserves in 2014 completing the regular UKIAC in 2016. Since then he has enjoyed postings in Pathfinder, DI, PJHQ and other locations. He is an avid target shooter, competing from the age of 11 and is a member of his battalions Operational Shooting Team. It is this unique skill set of understanding human behaviour, being an IA and a shooter that has enabled him to analyse the evidence around the JFK assassination to uncover what actually happened!

Jonathan Sayers is a graduate in International Relations and holds a Masters degree in International Security Studies, who lives in Thatcham, Berkshire. He has been deeply committed to the preservation of the history of the base at Greenham Common since 2001 when he launched a very successful website on the history of the base. This commitment grew in 2006 when he published the first book to tell the full history on RAF Greenham Common, entitles “In Defense of Freedom: A History of RAF Greenham Common”. In doing his research, Jonathan has developed very strong links with the USAF veteran community who were posted to Greenham Common and Welford and this is a relationship which goes on to this day. He brings a very extensive knowledge of the base and have given talks on it to many local groups including the Newbury Society, Newbury Rotary, and the Thatcham Historical Society. He has also been interviewed by BBC TV, BBC Radio Berkshire and worked on a number of documentaries on the base with media production companies.

This talk was given by Mr Scott Leadbetter, on Mon 06 Dec 2021. Scott graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2018 having studied Geography. During his studies he developed an interest in GIS, particularly through a Remote Sensing of the Cryosphere module. His final year dissertation revolved around GIS analysis of crime data and was produced in collaboration with the West Midlands Police. He had the privilege of presenting his findings at the 2018 Crime, Justice and Policing Conference. Subsequently, Scott has been employed by DEFRA, and then the MoD as a geospatial analyst. He spent a couple of years based in Cambridgeshire with the Scene Visualisation team, focusing on 3D modelling of locations, before moving to the Defence Geographic Centre (DGC) at Feltham as part of the foundation imagery and elevation data team.

A shift in the way we see GEOINT over the past 10 years - Air Cdre Steve Thornber CBE MA RAF The talk covers Steve’s personal thoughts on a shift in the way we see GEOINT over the past 10 years, some observations on Intelligence, Policy and Operations and challenges for the future.

Webinar by Mr Roger Green