Late photo-reconnaissance Spitfires[edit]

A preserved PR Mk XI Spitfire (PL965) in PRU Blue (2008)

In 1942, the two-stage Merlin 60 aero engine became available for reconnaissance aircraft. The first
15 Spitfires with the new engine were conversions of standard Mk IXs made by the workshops of 1
PRU at RAF Heston. One of the best known operations undertaken by the Mk IX conversion was to
provide photographs of the four dams slated to be destroyed by Operation Chastise; a PR Mk IX
flown by Flg/Off F D Fray brought back a famous series of photos showing the Moehne and Eder
dams the morning after the raid.[141]
The PR Mk XI was the first version of the Spitfire to be built specifically as a photoreconnaissance
(PR) aircraft and started replacing all of the earlier conversions of Mk Is, IIs and Vs from mid-1943.
The PR Mk XIII replaced the PR Mk VII as a low-altitude tactical-reconnaissance aircraft at about
this time.[142] By late 1942, the early PRUs had been expanded and formalised into several
squadrons, and with the formation of the Second Tactical Air Force (or 2nd TAF) in 1943, Army Cooperation Command was wound up and many of its units became dedicated PR Squadrons. The
photo-reconnaissance squadrons, especially those units in theatres outside Britain, were selfcontained intelligence units; not only did they have the usual aircraft and maintenance crews but
they also incorporated a large photographic section, which processed the exposed film in mobile
laboratories almost as soon as the aircraft had landed. There were also photo interpreters, photoprinting staff, an intelligence section plus communications staff. [143]

The breached Moehne Damphotographed by a PR Mk IX conversion of 542 Squadron RAF[142]

After the Rseau AGIR reported September 1943 construction in Occupied France, Spitfires and
other reconnaissance aircraft (five British, five American, and four Canadian squadrons)
[144]:113

photographed V-1 facilities. A photo taken by a 542 Squadron Spitfire[145] on 3 October 1943

depicted the Siracourt V-1 bunker[146] (bombed January 1944), and sortie E/463 on 3 November 1943
over Bois Carr by a No. 170 Squadron RAF aircraft[specify] was the first to detect "ski-shaped buildings
240-270 feet long".[147] As on 21 October,[148]:36 photo-reconnaissance sorties on 4 December 1943[146] to
cover the whole of Northern France were conducted before the 5 December start of "Crossbow
Operations Against Ski Sites". Despite Crossbow bombings, camouflaged "modified" sites were first
discovered 26 April 1944[146]:8 (61 modified sites were photographed by 6 June).[149]:226,231 Photos on 10
June depicting that the sites were being activated allowed image interpreters to predict the sites
could launch within three days[150] (V-1 flying bomb operations began on the night of 12/13 June
1944).
Combat support[edit]