RAF photo-reconnaissance operations

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20 years 7 months

Posts: 18,353

Can anyone recommend some good books on RAF photo-recce missions? Pilot biographies etc?

I've already read Warburton's War, which was a fascinating read.

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19 years 1 month

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Skyspy by Ray Holmes is quite a nice autobio - he was a pre war VR pilot and then operational fighter pilot who later did a tour on Recce Spitfires,I have not read it for years so hope I got those details correct.

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19 years 1 month

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Combat and Competition by David Ince is another interesting autobio by (originally) an Army Officer (a 'Broon Fokker') who managed to get on an Army Co-op pilots course in spite of not meeting eyesight standards.He was destined for Mustangs in the Army Co-op role and then managed to transfer to the RAF where he became a Typhoon Pilot who specialised in low level Fighter Recce and not averse to local modifications on the 'Tiffy'.Post war he became a Glider Pilot ('competition').

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20 years 7 months

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Cheers for those suggestions.

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9 years 10 months

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'Eyes of the RAF' A history of photo-reconnaissance by Roy Conyers Nesbit ISBN 1-85833-389-X is well worth looking at.

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9 years 1 month

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Evidence in Camera by Constance Babbington Smith. If you can find a copy that is. Published in 1958, I remember reading this as a teenager from the library (not in 1958 though - a liitle later !). She was the one that found the V1 flying bombs at Peenemunde on the photos taken by PR. I suspect that Eyes of the RAF would cover a lot of what she had written though !

Also Most Secret War by R.V. Jones which has quite a few mentions of PR, especially the Bruneval raid. Must be one of the most fascinating books ever written about the 2nd world war anyway, if you haven't already read it.

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20 years 7 months

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I've just seen Sandy's Spitfire recently advertised on Facebook - so will definitely have to get hold of that one.