GoKawiilShirley Jenkins operates a trials vehicle with a colleague in the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s infrared group in the 1970s. Credit: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026
In the early 1980s, a BBC film followed Susan James as she took noise measurements in an airborne Westland Sea King helicopter. She then processed the data in an acoustics laboratory at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), a research centre run by the UK Ministry of Defence.
James joined the RAE at 19 years old in 1979 and was in her early 20s when she appeared in the film by the UK broadcaster, which aimed to promote careers in the UK government’s scientific civil service. The film described a role there as a “good job with prospects”.
At that time, the RAE was the largest research centre in Europe, with thousands of staff at its base in Farnborough. It ran the full spectrum of experimental, testing and analysis activities across programmes in aerodynamics, aircraft systems and weaponry.
Government scientists and engineers had proved their value during the Second World War, managing advanced research programmes and providing scientific advice to policymakers.
In 1976, it was estimated that around 5% of UK science and engineering graduates joined the scientific civil service, following a separate career path to that of the wider civil service. At that time, its centres employed 35,000 staff members, of which 18,000 were scientists.
Susan James at work in the Royal Aircraft Establishment’s acoustics laboratory during the 1980s.Credit: UK MOD © Crown copyright 2026
Most worked in research establishments that were directly attached to government departments. Some worked at departmental headquarters in London, others were drafted into a scientific unit in the armed forces or positioned at an overseas embassy as a scientific counsellor.
Another of the more than 70 departmental research centres that existed in the 1980s was the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in Watford. This focused on building materials, methods of construction and related branches of civil engineering, and employed around 500 staff members. Anthony Bravery worked at the BRE as a timber specialist until his retirement in 2011.
In 2019, as part of my PhD research, I interviewed Bravery about his career. He and James were among 20 former government scientists who I spoke to about how organizational change and the privatization of the RAE and the BRE affected individuals’ working lives. The recordings, which last between 2.5 hours and 19.5 hours, are now in the British Library’s sound archive.
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