The World War One flyers who shot Britain from above
- Published
A new book celebrates the work of Aerofilms, an aerial photography venture set up in May 1919. Thousands of images taken by Aerofilms between 1919 and 1953 are now held in historical archives
Claude Grahame-White, one of Britain's earliest aviators, was a co-founder. During World War One he served with the Royal Naval Air Service before later constructing aircraft for the British war effort
Francis Lewis Wills was the other co-founder. During WW1, he flew air reconnaissance missions with the RNAS over France, Belgium and northern Germany. Aerofilms' pilots and crew included Claude Friese-Greene, who joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1918 after being wounded at Somme while serving as a soldier
The company photographed cities including Edinburgh, also towns and rural landscapes for use in postcards. During World War Two, it provided air reconnaissance for the military
In peacetime, Aerofilms also captured aerial images of sporting occasions such as this boxing match at Wembley Stadium in August 1924
Holidaymakers and their cars on the beach at Camber and Broomhill Sands in East Sussex in May 1931. Many of the photographs in the book, Aerofilms: A History of Britain From Above have not been published before
Melrose Abbey, another of the images used for the book. It was written by James Crawford and Allan Williams, of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, and Katy Whitaker, cataloguing team leader at English Heritage and an expert on the history of the Aerofilms Collection
Oban was another of the places in Scotland the aerial photographers flew over
An image of the paddle steamer Prince Edward on Loch Lomond taken in 1948
Royal Navy warships HMS Revenge and HMS Nelson, which served in both world wars, pictured at a ship breaking yard at Inverkeithing in 1947. Images from the Aerofilms Collection will be displayed at the Museum of Edinburgh until 26 April and The Lighthouse in Glasgow to 7 May, The RAF Museum in Hendon until 31 March next year and Cardiff Airport until 7 November this year