Price, Alfred. Targeting the Reich: Allied Photographic Reconnaissance over Europe, 1939-1945. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2003

ISBN 1-85367-546-6
144 pages

Preface; photos

   Although it will certainly find its niche, this book proved a disappointment to us, mostly because it wasn't what we expected and it didn't really measure up to Alfred Price's usual standards. After sixteen pages of "The Development of Photographic Reconnaissance, 1939-1945" (and that really means RAF photo recon, plus a couple of asides about the USAAF, but no coverage of other air forces such as the French or Soviet), the remainder of the book comprises nothing more than photos and captions.
   The photos have been "lifted" directly from the RAF's wartime publication, "Evidence in Camera," (thanks to "modern computerised printing technology"), and they are organized into several sections:

Air attack photographs
Flak defences
Radar installations
Camouflage
Decoy targets
Aircraft industry
Luftwaffe aircraft
Aircraft types
Naval targets
Preparations for D-Day
The Battle of Normandy
The V-1 bombardment
Shadows

   While not without interest, the photos themselves must carry the entire load, because too many of the captions resemble these: "Above: The attack on the Astra-Romana Refinery." "Right: Post-strike photo of the Astra-Romana refinery, showing extensive damage to the plant." (The "above" photo, by the way, contains some wartime interpreter's markings which are left unmentioned and unexplained.) Now, those keen on the bombing mission against the Astra-Romana refinery will probably be quite pleased to see both photos, and they do make an attractive set along with photos of attacks on Ploesti, the Creditul-Minier refinery, the Steua-Romana refinery, the Colombia-Aquila refinery, etc. However, nothing is said about the actual photo recon missions: nothing about the aircraft, the altitude, the cameras, the mountings, etc. That approach holds true throughout the book, so that this work is not so much about photo reconnaissance as it is about the targets of photo reconnaissance.
   If you just want to see examples of aerial photography—and some of them are quite striking—then this book will suit you well enough, but don't expect much explanation or enlightenment beyond the brief introductory text.

Nesbit, Roy Conyers. Eyes of the RAF: A History of Photo-Reconnaissance. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003

ISBN 0-7509-3256-2
342 pages

Foreword; Acknowledgements; Introduction; photos; Bibliography; Index

Appendices: Second World War Photo-reconnaissance Strategic Units and Squadrons; Adrian Warburton

   While Dr. Price's book seems like little more than a coffee table treatment of photo reconnaissance, Roy Conyers Nesbit offers a much more traditional text-oriented (albeit liberally illustrated) history of the subject, at least as it applies to the RAF. Compared to Price's sixteen pages of text, Nesbit writes well over 300, of which more than 150 are devoted to the Second World War. That provides far more room to cover more topics in more depth. Here are just the WWII-related chapters:

Sidney Cotton's Air Force
British Intelligence
Africa and Malta
The New Squadrons
Europe's Underbelly
Photography and Invasion
Night Bombing and Photography
South-East Asia

   While Nesbit covers much more territory, in the parts where he overlaps with Price their information is not always in full conformity.
   Here's what Price has to say about obtaining the first Spitfires for photo reconnaissance purposes:

   Following strong representations from the Air Ministry, Dowding reluctantly agreed to release a couple of Spitfires for modification as reconnaissance aircraft. Two Mark I fighters off the production line were flown to Heston airfield north of London, for the highly secret reconnaissance unit known as the 'Heston Flight'.

   And here's Nesbit on the same subject:

   ...Cotton believed that the commander-in-chief of Fighter Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, was so impressed by this result that he agreed to allocate two Spitfire Is to the new unit. In fact these two aircraft, serials N3071 and N3069, did not come from Fighter Command but were delivered to Heston on 30 October from Maintenance Command, by arrangement with Air Vice-Marshal Peck.

   This is what Price has to say about the first photo recon mission by a Spitfire over Germany:

   On 18 November 'Shorty' Longbottom, now a Flight Lieutenant, flew the first Spitfire reconnaissance mission. His target was the German city of Aachen and the fortifications nearby. As he ran through the target area at 33,000 feet he found the navigation was more difficult than expected, for while taking photographs with the wings horizontal he had no view of the ground below the aircraft. When his films were developed, they showed a strip of ground on the Belgian side of the frontier south of Aachen.

   Now compare that to Nesbit's description of the same mission:

   Longbottom flew the first sortie in the Spitfire on 18 November, refuelling at Challerton near the Luxembourg border and then flying over the German frontier as far as Aachen. He brought back some excellent pictures from 33,000 feet, although Aachen itself was covered by cloud.

   Unfortunately, neither author provides footnotes or a bibliography, so it's impossible to track down the root of these inconsistencies. No matter which author handles those minor issues most accurately, Nesbit scores far more points for his detailed examination of the development of photo reconnaissance and the men and machines involved. He also offers far more explanation of the technical aspects of cameras and using them effectively to take photos from rapidly moving aircraft.
   On the other hand, Price convincingly wins the arms race when it comes to publishing actual air recon photos. Nesbit doesn't exactly skimp in that area, but his photos mostly show aircraft, airmen, cameras, photo interpretation equipment, and related facilities.

Ivie, Tom. Patton's Eyes in the Sky: USAAF Combat Reconnaissance Missions, North West Europe 1944-45. Crowborough, UK: Classic Publications, 2003

ISBN 1-903223-26-1
176 pages

Introduction; Acknowledgments; Foreword; photos; color plates; Index

Appendices: Aircraft and Tactics; Distinguished Unit Citation; Aerial Victory Criteria and Controversy; Aces of the 10th PRG; Unofficial List of Aerial Victories; Colors and Markings; Changes in Group Organization; The Men on the Ground

   Tom Ivie turns his book about air reconnaissance in an entirely different direction. Although the sub-title in particular makes this sound like a fairly broad survey of the topic, in truth it's strictly a unit history of the USAAF's 10th Photo Reconnaissance Group.
   The 10th PRG was activated as the 73rd Observation Group in 1941, opened for business in England in February 1944, flew its first recon missions over German-occupied Europe in March, preformed low-level "dicing" photo missions over the Normandy beaches, eventually transferred to bases in liberated France, and constantly flew photo recon sorties until the last days of the war. All the familiar bases are covered by the author: formation of the unit, movement to Europe, first missions and teething problems, day-to-day activities, losses of aircraft and pilots, and so on. Unlike their British counterparts who were mostly instructed to avoid enemy fighters, the American pilots retained their armament and were ready to duke it out with the Luftwaffe when the need arose. Ivie emphasizes the constant succession of adventurous recce missions:

   The 10th PRG covered the battlefield on 20 and 21 March and assisted in the Third Army's race to cut off the German escape routes across the Rhine and to close its Rhineland campaign. Patton's forces then stormed and captured the cities of Mainz, Lugwigshafen, and Worms before barricading the Rhine between Worms and Mannheim, ending its fantastic 11 day campaign with a magnificent victory.
   All three of the Group's squadrons were active on 21 March. While the 31st PS was busy photographing the territory on both sides of the Rhine for the Third Army, the tactical reconnaissance squadron covered the activities of German troops and traffic in the battle area. Lts. Claude Franklin and "Dusty" Rhodes of the 12th TRS first checked out the bridges between Ludwigshafen and Mannheim and found them to be unserviceable and then turned their attention to other targets. Upon reaching the city of Mannheim they found a marshaling yard full of railcars and directed the fighter-bombers to the target. Lts. Mingo Logothetis and Bill Davenport also found a very lucrative target and called in P-47s to hammer a huge convoy of tanks, halftracks and self-propelled artillery.
   The Luftwaffe was up in force during the day and its fighters tried unsuccessfully to intercept several of the 31st PS's F-5 Lightnings. Other enemy aircraft tried to interfere with the tactical reconnaissance Mustangs and one of them paid for its aggressiveness when it entered the airspace occupied by Captain Clyde East and Lieutenant Leland Larson. As the section passed over a long-nosed Fw 190 D, Captain East turned and made a diving pass at the enemy aircraft but his bullets missed their target. Lieut Larson then jumped into a firing position and with a long burst sent the enemy aircraft to its doom. Apparently his gunfire killed the pilot because as soon as it was hit the Focke-Wulf went over into a slow roll and dived straight into the ground. As the future Ace began to climb for altitude after scoring his first victory, East spotted ten more Fw 190s coming in and radioed a warning for Larson to head for the deck and escape. The two Mustangs skimmed along the deck and easily outran the pursuing Fw 190s then pulled up and continued their mission.

   Ivie also quotes extensively from letters and diaries written by the 10th PRG's airmen during their tour in Europe, and of course all this is liberally illustrated with photos of men and aircraft along with a few shots of targets (including the Normandy beaches).
   Like Price's book, this was something of a disappointment to us, but only because we expected something else. Although the appendices carry some brief information about technical issues and the broader aspects of photo reconnaissance, this is really nothing more and nothing less than a unit history. As such, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with it. Compared to Classic's usual lavish colors, eye-popping graphics, and catchy layouts, Patton's Eyes in the Sky seems visually plain, but it's a perfectly workmanlike package. A good, solid air unit history.

   Upon learning of the publication of these three titles within a relatively short span of time, it seemed a brilliant idea on our part to conduct a review comparing and contrasting the different views of photo reconnaissance. Little did we know the books would be so different as to mostly defy the original plan! As if photo reconnaissance were not already a specialized niche, these three authors take completely divergent approaches to their books. Dr. Price's book, being little more than photos and captions, indubitably displays some visual appeal, but offers little else. The author has definitely done better work. Tom Ivie's book shows far more signs of tender loving care, and it's easily competitive with the majority of air unit histories such as those from Schiffer. His book suffers simply from being the least illustrious of Classic's exceedingly strong line. Finally, Nesbit's book turns out to be the only one of the three that actually tackles the subject of photo reconnaissance comprehensively. If his book has shortcomings, they are the exclusion of all air forces save the RAF and the "dilution" of the WWII material with so many pre-war and post-war chapters.
   So take your pick of three books about photo reconnaissance: one collection of photos, one unit history, and one covering the RAF over nearly a hundred years.
   All of these books are available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from the publishers or their distributors.
   Thanks to the publishers and/or distributors for providing these review copies.