Hi everybody !
 
I have a question regarding the recon of german airfields.
Since these palces were heavily defended, both flak and fighters, who flown these missions and how. Since this have to be done during daylight, the recon plane have to be very fast (mosquitos ?) or fly very high or both :)
 
So what was the common practice of taking photos of Luftwaffe airfields ?
 
Kind regards
 
T.

Lw A/Fs were regularly visited by both RAF (Mosquitos & Spitfires) and USAAF (F-5s & Spitfires) PR Sqns. Mission profile was nearly always high level. It was not uncommon to photograph a half dozen or more individual sites on a single sortie though not all would necessarily be A/Fs.

My father was a pilot with the 7th PRG based at Mt Farm. He flew a number of high level missions over German AFs in occupied France as well as Germany. The photo runs were typically made at around 30,000 feet in unarmed Spitfire MK XIs flying alone without fighter escort. Many of the pilots were intercepted and either evaded or were shot down. I have a high level aerial photo of Halberstadt AF taken on July 7, 1944. Among the AC visible on the ground are several fighters as well as an ultra rare Heinkel 111Z Zwilling (1 of 12). There was reportedly a significant air battle going on in the area that day and German fighters were refueling and rearming there. My father tells me he didn't have a clue what was going on in the air or on the ground.

Hi blythsco,
 
I presume that your father is John S. Blyth who flew with the 22PRS and 14PRS.
 
Could you tell me what date he joined the 22PRS, the earliest I have him with the unit is 30Aug43 when he was commissioned from FO.
 
Cheers
 
 

Hello Von Shagmeister
 
You have astutely established the connection. The 22PRS was formed at Colorado Springs early in 1943 and shipped out to Mt Farm late in May. My fathers first flight from Mt Farm was a local flight in an L-4B on June 11th. They received 4 Spitfire VBs from the Eagle Squadron and he took his first flight in one June 24th. He preferred the Spitfire over the F-5 for photo recce work and therefore transfered to the 14PRS in April of 1944. He is now going on 86 and has a crystal clear memory.
 
Regards
Scott Blyth

Hi Scott,
 
Many thanks for the info. I'm glad to hear your father is still going strong.
 
Interesting that he preferred the Spitfire over the F-5. From what I have read about tests conducted at Benson (just up the road from Mount Farm) between PR Mosquitos, Spitfires and F-5s the F-5 was considered markedly inferior for PR operations over NW Europe. This would appear to be confirmed by your father's opinion.
 
Thanks again.

Unfortunately the tests you refer to resulted in the loss of Capt. Thomas C. O'Bannon of the 13PRS in an F-5A on July 24, 1943. The F-5s were however valuable for low level oblique photography of targets such as the Noball sites and the Loire bridges. The Spit MK XIs excelled for high altitude long distance missions deep into Germany and beyond.

The Spitfire PR.XI and later XIX were truly remarkable a/c. But what I think is even more remarkable is the fact that lone pilots flew these unarmed machines (F-5s included) deep into enemy territory, using dead reckoning to find their targets and then fly back again whilst the enemy, knowing the significance of these flights, attempted to stop them. At least the PR Mossies had another set of eyes to keep a watch out for danger and to do the navigating.
 
The RAF made extensive use of PR Spits for dicing early in the war. Later on Mustang I/Ia TacR a/c performed thia role.