FILM RECORDS OF DAMAGE

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 14, 12 October 1943, Page 5

FILM RECORDS OF DAMAGE

Work Of R.A.F. Air Unit

Working under the control of tlie i Coastal Command, unsung pilots of the j R.A.F.’s photographic > reconnaissance) unit have been flying Mosquitoes • and J Spitfires deep into enemy territory, and i have been bringing back magnificent i photographic records on which have been; based Britain’s calculation of the bomb- 1 ing damage done to the enemy’s war !■ effort, said the London correspondent of ' the “Sydney Morning Herald.” in a recent dispatch. i Aircraft for this sub-stratosphere, type of_ivork must fly sufficiently fast] and high enough to avoid enemy intercep-; tion: hence the use of Mosquitoes and . Spitfires. j In addition to fine planes, the work re- i quires fine pilots, for the success of the whole operation rests on the pilot. His courage, initiative, quick-thinking, and knowledge of what height and speed are necessary, and what tactics are required can make or mar a sortie.

Pilots must volunteer to work in this , unit. The unit carefully guards the fit- : ness of its pilots, none of whom are per-1 mitted to remain with it for more than I 18 months. Whatever the number of; sorties he has made, a pilot must then ’ rest “at a less exacting job.” Some pilots cram in more than 100 sorties in their i term, but the average is between. 30 and 40. All reapply to join the unit when their rest is over. Ruled by Weather. The weather decides whether a sortie is possible. Forecasting experts report, on the height necessary for satisfactory' working, the light values, and the speed z required. Requests for photographs come from the Bomber and Fighter Commands, the Nayy, the Army, and the Ministry of Economic Warfare. When a pilot, returns from a sortie the film he -brings is rushed to a processing laboratory, where it is developed and printed in from one to two hours. A full report on the film is delivered to the requesting authority within 48 hours. The unit has had a meritorious career. On the outbreak of the war a number of squadrons with planes fitted with cameras moved to France and joined the British Expeditionary Force as a component. It was soon realized that unescorted Blenheims, carrying cameras, had little prospect of survival, and when mass production of Spitfires began and .longrange tanks were installed, the Spitfires had cameras fitted in their wings. The first operational flight took place near the end of 1939, when sections of the Siegfried Line were photographed. Limitations on the area that could be covered by cameras in the wings subsequently resulted in their being fitted Into the fuselage behind the pilot. “On March 7, 1940.” an air force mantold me, “we sent aircraft for the first ■time to Kiel. The port showed intense activity. Convoys were sailing out. and it seemed that more than 60 Junkers were on an airfield. Unfortunately, Kiel had not previously been photographed, so there was no basis for a comparison. In fact, what had been photographed was the departure of German forces about to invade Norway.” When France fell, the unit returned to England. It was then very small, for most Spitfires were required for the coming Battle of Britain,, but it was able closely to watch invasion ports and troop and aircraft movements. ' Dining Around Europe.

' Mosquitoes came into the service in 1942, making possible reconnaissance as far as the Baltic, Genoa and' Spezia. One pilot had breakfast in Scotland, lunch in Russia, and returned to Scotland in time for dinner. Another flew over Venice, photographed' Italian, ports, and landed at Malta. Recently, in one day. a Mosquito pilot flew from England, to Tunis, photographing Italv en route. He then refuelled, had lunch, and flew back to England for dinner. “London’s big blitz damage assessment, compared photographically with that of the Ruhr and other German targets, just puts it into the class of a minor incident.” a squadron officer told me. “It might be compared with the damage done by a screwdriver to that done by a steam-roller. “Large parts of such paces as Hamburg. Aachen, Essen and Cologne just are not there: they’re gone. Wuppertal left the map in 40 minutes. “It took us 10 days to get photographs s of Hamburg. Every time we and the weather were ready, the Bomber Command planes again went out. Sometimes there were German fighters over a target our bombers had just blitzed, waiting for our reconnaissance planes, but we have got better planes. “The Germans don’t send over manyphotographic planes, themselves. Theyi seem to have lost interest in the eco-j nomic side of the war.”