How aerial photographs tracked down Hitler's flying bombs

At the height of WWII, as deadly German V1 and V2 rockets were fired from northern France towards the UK, a country house by the banks of the River Thames became the centre of Allied attempts to discover the Nazis' test and launch sites.

Hundreds of staff at RAF Medmenham in Buckinghamshire studied millions of grainy aerial images of northern Europe to try to find the final pieces of an intelligence jigsaw - known as Operation Crossbow.

To mark 50 years since the first batches of WWII aerial photos were declassified, Allan Williams - from the National Collection of Aerial Photography in Edinburgh - has written a book about Operation Crossbow and the role photographic intelligence played to stop the doodlebugs and V2 rockets.

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All images subject to copyright. Most images courtesy Medmenham Collection. Additional images courtesy Getty Images and Press Association.

Music by Billy Cotton and courtesy KPM Music. Slideshow production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 15 July 2013.

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National Collection of Aerial Photography

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