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The book tells both sides of the PR Spitfire story – the technical development of the aircraft, with new marks of Spitfire and new camera installations appearing throughout the war, and the operational side, from the early days with a single aircraft to the peak with PR Spitfires serving in many squadrons, and with hundreds of PR Spitfires produced.
One of the most impressive features of this story is the speed in which the idea of using the Spitfire for photographic reconnaissance went from being an experimental idea to being mainstream, with dedicated PR Spitfires being built and the numbers involving increasing. At first we are looking at the activities of individual aircraft, but we soon move on to squadron scale.
The early experiments quickly proved the concept, with the one Spitfire in use in the early days of the war in 1939 covered a larger area than the seven squadrons of Blenheim IVs used for PR, and at no cost – in comparison seventeen Blenheims were lost.
Although the Spitfire is generally known for its short range, some of these PR types could cover very impressive distances. 1941 saw one Spitfire fly from Britain to Italy and back, landing after a flight of 7 hours 10 minutes!
The book covers a lot of ground. PR Spitfires hunted for German capital ships, looked for the V-Weapons, carried out beach surveys before D-Day, hunted for German merchant shipping from Malta, supported Bomber Command, operated over Italy, and against the Japanese in the Far East. It was also the only PR aircraft to see service in that role from 1939 to 1945, and to still be one of the best at its role at the end of the war.
Chapters
1 – An Experimental Concept
2 – Early Operations
3 – Strategic Recce in Northwest Europe
4 – In Support of the Army
5 – Overseas Operations
Author: Andrew Fletcher
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 96
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2023