No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (or 1 PRU) was a flying unit of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, first formed in 1940.

History

On 24 September 1939, the

formally took over the "Heston Flight", a civilian photo reconnaissance unit headed by

Sidney Cotton Frederick Sidney Cotton OBE (17 June 1894 – 13 February 1969) was an Australian inventor, photographer and aviation and photography pioneer, responsible for developing and promoting an early colour film process, and largely responsible for ...

based at Heston Aerodrome.Nesbit, p. 84 The unit had previously been contracted by MI6 to perform clandestine photographic reconnaissance over Europe, using civilian-registered Lockheed 12A aircraft. The Flight was redesignated several times, first on 1 November 1939 as No. 2 Camouflage Unit,Ashworth 1992, p. 159. then on 17 January 1940 as the Photographic Development Unit, then on 18 June 1940 the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit,Ashworth 1992, p. 160.Lake 1999, p. 155. and finally on 14 November 1940, No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit.Ashworth 1992, p. 161. The unit was equipped with a variety of aircraft modified for the photographic reconnaissance role, including

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Gri ...

Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company (Bristol) which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until ...

Lockheed Hudson The Lockheed Hudson is a light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built by the American Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was initially put into service by the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and p ...

s and

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...

s. On 18 October 1942, 1 PRU was disbanded and the individual Flights of the Unit were redesignated as five separate squadrons, Nos.

540 __NOTOC__ Year 540 ( DXL) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1293 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...

541 __NOTOC__ Year 541 ( DXLI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1294 ''Ab urbe condita''). Basi ...

542 __NOTOC__ Year 542 ( DXLII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. From this year forward, the appointment of particular Roman consuls was abandoned and the office was merged with t ...

543 __NOTOC__ Year 543 ( DXLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 543 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

and

544 __NOTOC__ Year 544 ( DXLIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 544 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era be ...

Squadrons. On 1 June 1982, the Unit was revived at

RAF Wyton Royal Air Force Wyton or more simply RAF Wyton is a Royal Air Force station near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, England. The airfield is decommissioned and is now home to the Joint Forces Intelligence Group. History Flying station Wyton has b ...

Jefford 2001, p. 41. when No. 39 Squadron was disbanded and some of its

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

PR.9 reconnaissance aircraft were transferred to a newly formed No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit.Lake 1999, p. 156. The Unit reverted to its previous identity on 1 July 1992, when it was renumbered No. 39 (1 PRU) Squadron. The photographic archive of 1 PRU was incorporated into the Allied Central Interpretation Unit and held at the Print Library at

RAF Medmenham RAF Medmenham is a former Royal Air Force station based at Danesfield House near Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire, England. Activities there specialised in photographic intelligence, and it was once the home of the RAF Intelligence Branch. Durin ...

before its move to

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

. Since 2008 it has been part of the archive of the

National Collection of Aerial Photography The National Collection of Aerial Photography is a photographic archive in Edinburgh, Scotland, containing 26 million aerial photographs of worldwide historic events and places. From 2008–2015 it was part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient an ...

.Williams, Allan (2013) Operation Crossbow: The Untold Story of Photographic Intelligence and the Search For Hitler's V Weapons

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Ashworth, Chris. ''RAF Coastal Command, 1936-1969''. Sparkford, Somerset, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1992. . * Bowyer, Michael J.F. and John D.R. Rawlings. ''Squadron Codes, 1937-56''. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens Ltd., 1979. . * Flintham, Vic and Andrew Thomas. ''Combat Codes: A full explanation and listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied air force unit codes since 1938''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing Ltd., 2003. . * Jefford, C.G. ''RAF Squadrons, a Comprehensive record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents since 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1988 (second edition 2001). . * Lake, Alan. ''Flying Units of the RAF: The ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. . *Nesbit, Roy Conyers. 1996. ''Eyes of the RAF''. Sutton Publishing {{refend

External links

RAF Reconnaissance Aircraft Part 1

National Collection of Aerial Photography

1 PRU Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992

History

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links