7x USAAF Reconnaissance Photos

Hi All,

Thanks to a 'heads up' from Niels who had been keeping an eye on the German Ebay site, I have been successful in acquiring 7x original USAAF reconnaissance prints:

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There are at least two, perhaps all, from sortie US30/4378 flown on the 29th July over Operation 'Cobra' ground. I got them for €67 plus carriage which is not bad considering the price we pay for NCAP scans - and NCAP has no (digitised) frames from this sortie :angel:

I don't know how long the link will work, but if readers want to have a preview, here is the German Ebay page. Once scanned, I'll post them here on the Forum and see if we can find the locations.

Regards,

Pat

 

Thanks Neil,

I'll be making them available to members with 'Researcher' status in the Green Room Library when I've completed scanning. It might take a bit of time though as, IIRC, they are about 1ft square and will not fit on my A4 scanner, so I'll have to join the sections in PS.

Regards,

Pat

 

Should be good Niels,

From what I can see in the preview, they look to be very sharp.

Thanks again.

Pat

 

Hi Charles,

We have nothing in the digitised NCAP archive from this sortie - they may have un-scanned master prints of course, but you would have to either visit the NCAP Search Room in Edinburgh or pay for a search to find them if such was the case.

While we await delivery, does anyone know where General McNair was observing when he was killed by the 'Cobra' bombing?

Thanks,

Pat

 

Thanks John,

The hamlet of l'Epine au Verdier looks to be the location based on your links. The farmhouses therein appear to afford good views to the south and west.

I also note with interest that this hamlet is only a few hundred yards north east of the 'Herd of Allied Tanks' LIFE photo location on the D77. I wonder was the photographer looking for the McNair location? :idea:

We should take a closer look at the other scenes in that BP footage (1958.01).

Regards,

Pat

 

They have arrived

The haul includes:

• US30/4378 Frame 2003
• US30/4378 Frame 2004
• US30/4378 Frame 2007
• US30/4378 Frame 2012
• US30/4378 Frame 2015
• US30/4378 Frame 2029
• US30/4378 Frame 2030

I have the first two scanned at 400dpi, giving a TIFF file size of between 80-90MBs. Each frame has to be scanned in two parts and then joined in PS, so if anyone spots the joints, please let me know as such should not be the case. They are in the Resource Files section of the 'Green Room' area under 'High Resolution Reconnaissance Sortie Frames' if anyone with 'Researcher' status wants to have a look. All I ask is that they are not distributed outside the Forum Family.

Not for the first time, I am indebted to Dale for searching through his microfilm collection for the sortie's 'Pilot Flight Trace', which is reproduced below:

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The flight path appears to be east of Marigny in its entirety and passing over St Lo on the homeward leg.

I'll leave the location finding to you guys while I continue scanning. Note frames 2003 and 2004 show overlap.

Regards,

Pat

 

Frame 2007 now uploaded.

More follows...

Pat

 

Hi All,

I see there are 7 downloads of Frame 2003 - anyone making progress with the locations?

Frame 2012 is now uploaded.

Regards,

Pat

 

Probably the easiest of the 7 frames in the collection - 2015, is now also uploaded.

The three converging roads brought this one home to Hebecrevon, about 2½ miles to the NW of St Lo:

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Hopefully the last two, 2029 and 2030, should be uploaded by tomorrow night.

Regards,

Pat

 

Last two frames now uploaded - 2029 and 2030.

I have also included the finder chart for frame 2015. Anyone making any progress with the other six locations?

Regards,

Pat

 

Just found frame 2012,

Its about 700 meters NW of Hebecrevon and just to the east of the motorway junction:

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That gives us the relative spacing for the other five frames, so they should be now be easy to find

Note also that 2012 is just south of the 'Herd of Allied Tanks' LIFE photo, though no common ground exists between the two.

Regards,

Pat

 

They are beginning to fall into place - 2003 and 2004, the only two in the collection with overlap. The location is 900 meters to the SE of Amigny, which in turn is about 3.3kms NW of Hebecrevon:

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This area is probably not far from where General McNair had been killed on the opening day of Operation Cobra, just four days previous to the date of this sortie.

Regards,

Pat

 

Finally! - I had to use IGN cover flown in 1947 to locate frame 2007 due to changes in the hedge lines and the new motorway!

I also note a small tie between this frame and the 'Herd of Allied Tanks' LIFE photo:

Note the three ties marked on the LIFE photo below:​

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So, I think we can now date the LIFE photo to prior 29th July as I see no wrecks or vehicles on the high resolution version of frame 2007, but the tank tracks are there on both images.

Regards,

Pat

 

The last two found...

A large post-war livestock shed at Le Castillon Farm obscuring the square courtyard is my excuse for the delay in finding the last two frames

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The location is about 1Km east of St Gilles on the D972. I used IGN cover flown in 1947 as the base for the finder chart as all the apple orchards have been removed:

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If you look carefully, you can see that the eastern frame, 2030, covers slightly less ground that 2029. The only explanation I can think of is that the pilot is banking to the east, lowering his port side camera in the process, thereby covering less ground than the starboard side.

In any event, that completes the locations for all 7 frames in the collection.

Regards,

Pat

 

Thanks Allan,

There are only a limited number of times I can watch the usual gaggle of Christmas films and the older one gets, the more often they seem to be screened

I am also off work all this week so loads of time to find these locations in the early hours of the morning :angel:

Happy New Year Allan.

Pat