Cold War images released to Edinburgh-based archive

Aerial images of Syria and Luneburg in Germany taken during the 1950s

Cold War photographs of Germany and the Middle East have been released to a national archive based in Edinburgh.

The images were taken by the RAF in the 1950s and show locations in countries that were part of former Soviet Union or its allies, and also western Europe.

A powerful US-made camera was fitted to a Canberra B2 jet.

Declassified in 2004, the images have now only been released by the Ministry of Defence to the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP).

Many of the photographs show locations in former East Germany, but also test shots of western Europe such as Luneburg in former West Germany, while others show Syria.

A Canberra jet was used for the Cold War spying missions

The spying sorties were first flown as part of the UK-US Project Robin.

The camera used was said to be so powerful that during a test flight over the English Channel off the coast of Dover, clear photographs were taken of St Paul's Cathedral 75 miles (120km) away in central London.

Project Robin's first sortie was flown in 1954 and the last in 1956 when the US switched to the higher flying U-2 aircraft.

The Canberra B2 jet continued to be used, however, by the RAF and was deployed during the Suez Crisis in the late 1950s.