EvidenceIncamera.co.uk has world wide aerial photos from the 1930's to the present
Title
The Aerial Reconnaisance Archives
Description
This website has been created by The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA), at Keele University. We are an official place of deposit for The National Archives. The archives at TARA chart the development of photographic reconnaissance and intelligence from a position of virtual insignificance during the early part of World War II to an integral part of Military Intelligence. Our largest catalogued archive is that of the Allied Central Interpretation Unit (ACIU).
During World War II, the Allied Central Interpretation Unit, based at Medmenham, was the headquarters of photographic intelligence. In a similar way to the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchely Park, the ACIU had a high priority in the recruitment of staff. Like the code-breakers, the photographic interpreters played a key role in winning the war. No attack, whether a bombing raid, the landing of a few men on a beach or a massive landing of an army, was possible without the preparation of target material at the ACIU. The photographic techniques used, made it possible for the interpreters to view the enemys activities in 3D, and allowed them to prepare highly detailed Interpretation Reports. For further information on the fascinating story of World War II photographic reconnaissance and intelligence, please read a recent BBCi article by our Head of TARA, Allan Williams.
By 1945, millions of aerial reconnaissance images of the world had been accumulated at Medmenham. The archive contained a visual record of the world at war. After the war, interest in the aerial imagery grew amongst University geographers and archaeologists, many of whom had been photographic interpreters. There followed a long series of discussions between Professor Stanley Beaver of Keele University and the Air Ministry that eventually led to the transfer of ACIU photographs of Western Europe to Keele University. In 1962 and 1963, 5.5 million reconnaissance photographs in 40,000 boxes were transferred over a 14 month period.
