WORLD WAR I - AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Notes on the Interpretation of Aeroplane Photographs; An impressive exposition of the rarified level reached by fixed-wing aerial reconnaissance and photo interpretation by the last year of the war. Third edition, considerably expanded, of the slight and fragile text pamphlet, first published 1916, paired unusually with the impressive plate volume - both are decidedly uncommon.Both printed items were produced in France by Army Printing & Stationery Services and classified "For Official Use Only"; despite a stated print run of 4,000, few copies of the pamphlet have survived. The first item contains concise but detailed notes on how to identify various battlefield structures and features - trenches and wire, dugouts and mine shafts, listening and observation posts, batteries, concrete structures and so forth - followed by a section on rear organizations - railways, dumps, billets and aerodromes - noting that from the "enemy's means of supply" and the study of aerial photographs more generally "often his intentions may be deduced". The pamphlet concludes with a brief section of technical notes on the uses of different types of photographs, oblique, stereoscopic, stereoscopic oblique, and how these may variously offer enhanced potential for interpreting detail. The substantial atlas contains an exceptionally fine range of high quality photos, illustrative of the points made in the accompanying notes. Many of the views are accompanied by maps or sketches to clarify interpretation

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