Catalogue description Ministry of Supply and War Office: Clothing and Equipment Physiological Research Establishment and Clothing and Stores Experimental Establishment: Reports and Technical Memoranda

In 1944 a Research and Development Centre RAOC was formed at the Central Ordnance Depot [COD] Elstree, Herts. In March 1946 this moved to Chatham, where it was known as the Field Test Centre RAOC. Its functions - as explained in Army Council Instruction [ACI] 211 of 1945 - were the design, development and testing of Votes 7 and 8 stores (Vote 7 concerned clothing and necessaries, whilst Vote 8 pertained to general stores) and related research.

In October 1948 the Ministry of Supply set up a research unit, the Clothing and Equipment Physiological Research Establishment [CEPRE] at Farnborough under the Director of Physiological and Biological Research to work on physical and physiological problems connected with army equipment. Also in 1948, the army's Field Test Centre - by this time located at West Byfleet in Surrey - became part of the Ministry of Supply as the Clothing and Stores Trials Establishment - CSTE - under the Director of Equipment and Stores.

In September 1955, CSTE amalgamated with CEPRE and became the Clothing and Stores Experimental Establishment [CSEE] at West Byfleet; at the same time the military personnel of CSTE became the field trials section of CSEE.

When the Ministry of Supply was broken up at the end of 1959 CSEE passed to the War Office. In 1960 it was again styled CEPRE, and returned to its original location at Farnborough. Some of the research carried out there now extended beyond purely equipment questions into the area of 'human factors', and a Human Factors division was formed accordingly.

In 1963 control of the Human Factors division passed to the Army Operational Research Establishment [AORE] which had been created in January 1962. In 1965 - with the transformation of AORE into the tri-service Defence Operational Analysis Establishment [DOAE] - the CEPRE Human Factors division at Farnborough and AORE's human factors team were reorganized into the Army Personnel Research Establishment, again based at Farnborough.