War in the Air - Reconnaissance (2)

Question 1

Describe the development of the camera and how photos were taken?

Answer 1

• Frederick Laws experimented with army photography in 1912
• First army cameras were flown in slow but stable on the BE2 aircraft and were minted to the rear cockpit
• 1915 the L/B model by Laws and John Moore Brabazon pointed through a hole in the floor
• Cameras originally had metal or glass plates and magazine loading allowed plates to be changed quickly
• Automatic film loaded air cameras were being used by 1918 and were a huge step forward

Question 2

Who used photography well at the Battle of Neuve Chappelle and what did they do?

Answer 2

• Lt Charles Darley of the No.3 Squadron photographed German lines
• This revealed their new trench construction and caused the British to change their plan of attack

Question 3

What were ‘mosaic maps’ and how were they being used?

Answer 3

• A photo-map made by assembling overlapping aerial photographs of the ground like a jigsaw
• This allowed interpreters at Army HQ to judge heights and distances
• Mid 1915 Army HQ had detailed 1:10,000 scale. maps derived from air reconnaissance

Question 4

With better cameras in 1916 how fast were photos being delivered to Army HQ

Answer 4

• No.10 Squadron delivered photo prints to army HQ in France within 30 minutes of the reconnaissance plane landing

Question 5

How many photos of the Somme were taken by the RFC?

Answer 5

19,000 aerial photographs and 430,000 prints

Question 6

What proportion of alien sorties over the Western Front were reconnaissance missions?

Answer 6

1/3

Question 7

How did Air reconnaissance play a part in the Middle East?

Answer 7

• General Allenby’s army pilots photographed vast areas of the desert
• Pilots updated maps and tacked Turkish army movements

Question 8

Due to the increase of Air Reconnaissance what did the French army set up for the first time in 1915? When did the British follow?

Answer 8

• French set up their first camouflage unit in 1915
• British Army set up a camouflage section in 1916 deceptively called ‘Special Works Park (Royal Engineers)’

Question 9

How did camouflage play a part at Aubers Ridge in 1915?

Answer 9

• The British had prepared dummy trenches to fool the Germans and there was also dummy guns and dummy railway locomotives

Question 10

What was recorded as the RFC’s first ‘air victory’?

Answer 10

• 25th August 1914 the Battle of Mons
• three unarmed RFC planes forced down a German two seater
• The two-man crew chased the Germans into a wood then set fire to the enemy aircraft

Question 11

How were unarmed reconnaissance planes defended?

Answer 11

• They were defended by escorts who would attack other planes and fight the Germans
• Specialist combat units were also formed by the Germans, for example the ‘Jastas’