ON THIS DAY IN 1941: AA810 was again in action with Tommy Tomlinson at the controls. Departing for Belgium at 10:30, Tommy headed for Flushing, successfully taking the ports, before moving on to Antwerp. The weather was on the turn, but on the way back he had an opportune moment to

GREAT ESCAPE FILM As is traditional, today in the UK on BBC2 at 1645

TODAY IN 1941: Sandy & AA810 were both in the air on different missions - Sandy’s being more challenging personally as he had been at a party in the mess at RAF Benson until 0500 that morning… “Mission 26 - Spitfire AA806 I started the day by sleeping in so completely missed breakfast.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR FOLLOWERS Wishing you all the best and thank you for your support in 2025!

CHRISTMAS EVE 1941 The run up to Christmas was quiet for RAF Benson, with a couple of attempts made to send missions to France being hampered by weather across the Channel. The Christmas spirit was upon the pilots, however, who headed en masse into Henley on Christmas Eve to enjoy a drink…

MOSQUITO MONDAY As part of our monument campaign, we get to meet some amazing families of veterans who often have some stunning photos of their relatives. Here we see Fred Efford DFC and his navigator with their PR Mosquito at RAF Benson. What a machine!!!

A HUMAN COST RECORDED Whilst the PRU were mainly tasked with identifying potential military targets, the aircrew also had the job of capturing intelligence on the impact of the allied bombing campaign. This aerial photograph of Ulm was taken 81 years ago today by 541 Sqn the

THE PRU IN WARTIME COLOUR The project is very lucky to have Sandy Gunn’s original colour photographs from his time at RAF Benson, sadly there are very few other original colour images, particularly of PR.IV Spitfires. Today we feature one of the more well known surviving colour…

MOSQUITO MONDAY A 544 Squadron Mosquito is seen refuelling in Gibraltar, date and identity unknown. Several of the reconnaissance units operated small detachments of aircraft at remote bases, particularly in the Mediterranean, Italy, and North Africa.

SPITFIRE SUNDAY Today’s aircraft is PR.XI PL883 of 400Sqn photographed at B78 Eindhoven in 1944. This aircraft was destroyed on the ground by attacking aircraft during Operation Bodenplatte on the 1st January 1945.

ON THIS DAY IN 1941 Sandy found himself in the air operationally for the first time in a while, it was not to be without its challenges: “Mission 25 - Spitfire AA806 Airborne from Benson at 10:45 with only one mud flap, as one was lost; result: one lens covered with mud. Set course for Clacton

F/O JOHN MICHAEL HEWLETT SARGENT Today we mark the loss of John who was posted missing flying Spitfire N3117 on a low-level dicing operation to Berck. Born in Kent he was born in Chiswick, he was educated in Westgate and Canterbury before joining the Army and becoming a 2nd Lt

MOSQUITO MONDAY A post-war image of PR.34 RG236 of 540 Sqn at RAF Benson. 181 PR.34’s were produced, remaining in RAF service until December 1955.

Looking for an exceptional Christmas gift? We are raising money for the cowling restoration of AA810 and you can have your name, or that of a loved one, written on the inside for £100. Interested? DM us and we can tell you more!

SPITFIRE SUNDAY Today we feature PR.IV AA797 taken at Wick. Built in Reading and flown at Henley on the 30th September 1941, this aircraft entered service with 1 PRU at RAF Benson in December 1941. This aircraft was lost over Trondheim with F/Sgt Mervyn Jones at the…

TODAY IN 1942 - OPERATION OYSTER Not all photo recon flights occurred before raids, many were taken after to assess the impact of strikes, but some on critical installations were taken during raids! Today in 1942, 93 RAF aircraft took off to carry out a daylight pinpoint raid on the Philips Radio

Looking for gifts this #xmas - we have just two #Spitfire AA810 scarfs left in stock. £260 each with uk shipping included. DM me if interested!

OPERATION CROSSBOW - NOBALL ATTACKS Today marks 82 years since the Allied bombing campaign started against the V1 ‘NOBALL’ sites in occupied France and Belgium. These sites that had been watched carefully by the RAF PR Squadrons for months were monitored for construction progress with…

ON THIS DAY IN RAF PR HISTORY The first flight of the Mosquito PR.34 today in 1944. The war in the far east now needed an aircraft capable of flying huge distances. By modifying the existing PR.16 aircraft with a bulged fuselage tank enabled the PR.34, combined with wing drop tanks, to deliver a

WAAF WEDNESDAY We’re still collating stories of those who served both in the air and on the ground and in particular much of this information comes from families. Are you or do you know related to anyone who served in support of the RAF Photographic Reconnaissance role?

MOSQUITO MONDAY Today’s aircraft is Mosquito PRI W4059 photographed in 1942. It flew 75 operations with 1PRU before serving with 540 Sqn. It finished its days with 8(c) OTU training future PR pilots.

SYTTENDE MAI The project would like to wish our Norwegian friends, followers and partners a happy Constitution Day as they celebrate a national holiday. Without our Norwegian friends, AA810 would never have come home. Thank you all!

HAPPY 103RD BIRTHDAY F/LT WILLIAM ‘BILL’ WILLIAMS Bill served with 681 Sqn in Burma through much of the war, he flew PR Spitfires including the PR.IV ferrying one from Benson via Cornwall and Gibraltar to Cairo. Todays pic of Bill from 1945: www.spitfireaa810.co.uk/national-mem...

SPITFIRE SUNDAY Today’s subject is the prototype Spitfire PR.XI EN654. She first flew in May 1943 before service with 16 Sqn from October. In June 1945 it became a mail carrier for service with Fighter Command Communications and was eventually sold off in August 1947.

MAJOR STEM ANNOUNCEMENT @rafyouthengage and Spitfire AA810 are delighted to announce a new partnership together in STEM and history provision in UK schools For the announcement in full, please see: www.spitfireaa810.co.uk/post/spitfir...

MOSQUITO MONDAY With the D-Day commemorations exactly a month away, today’s image is of this lovely collection of striped PR Mossies taken at RAF Benson during a spell of wet weather!

SPITFIRE SUNDAY PR.XI PL841, shown here with 681 Sqn in the Far East. MIA from RAF Alipore on 07/06/45 on a mission to Moulmein, Burma with F/Lt Thomas Woodhouse from Honour Oak Park, London as pilot. The 27-year-old & his Spitfire are believed to rest in the Bay of Bengal

MOSQUITO MONDAY Today’s image is an original wartime colour shot of PR.XVI NS591, part of a batch of PR.XVI Mossies supplied to the USAAF in 1944. This aircraft continued in a PR role, would survive the war unscathed, and was eventually transferred to the French Air Force in July 1946.

SPITFIRE SUNDAY Spitfire PR.X SR396 at Eastleigh prior to delivery to 542 Sqn at @RAFBenson. Only 16 PR.X were built using the fuselage of a Mk.VII and PR.XI wings. Painted pink, SR396 would be written off with a heavy landing and u/c collapse in Feb 1945. #pinkspitfire

MOSQUITO MONDAY The first production Mosquito PR Mk.1 W4051. Built in 1941, it flew with 1PRU then 540 Sqn before 8(c) OTU training PRU crews. She had a long life, finally suffering damage in an accident in July 1944. It returned to the factory but was not repaired before scrapping in June 1945.

PARTS APPEAL As the project looks at more of the systems for the restoration, we are appealing to anyone who might have a MkII Oxygen Economiser (6D/479). We need one to complete the reconnaissance oxygen system on AA810. Can you help?

MOSQUITO MONDAY Today’s image features a Mosquito ground team fitting a Type F.52 camera with 36-inch lens through the starboard side loading-hatch of a De Havilland Mosquito at RAF Benson in August 1943. This image has been colourised for us by Colour by RJM

SPITFIRE SUNDAY Today we feature PR XI EN427 at RAF Benson. After a failed attempt to deliver to the Middle East, EN427 would eventually join 682 Sqn in Italy. The aircraft went missing on a sortie to Genoa on 29 August 1943.

A LIFE CUT SHORT 6TH APRIL 1944 AA810’s last pilot Sandy Gunn. Murdered 80 years ago today for his part in the #greatescape alongside William Grisman, Tony Hayter, Clement McGarr, Harold Milford, Denys Street, and John Williams. He was 24 years old.

MOSQUITO MONDAY On this our first Mosquito Monday we’d also like to say a very Happy 106th Birthday to the Royal Air Force. Per ardua ad astra.

Great to see the @CWGC featuring Sandy Gunn, with 322 known PRU aircrew buried in CWGC graves around the world, & 185 more listed on various memorials, the CWGC plays a major part in remembering and caring for the last resting places of those who served. www.cwgc.org/our-work/blo...

NEW MERCHANDISE As we head towards the significant anniversaries in the project through 2024, the team has been working on a number of new merchandise items. Today we unveil the first new item in the shop store - our project keyrings. www.spitfireaa810.co.uk/shop

ON THIS DAY IN 1942 Sandy Gunn finds himself coming face-to-face with Tirpitz for the first time: (facebook.com/10006359599093…?) Our first picture is of Sandy getting ready for today’s mission in 1942 colourised by Colour by RJM…

OTD IN 1942 Guy Morgan takes AA810 on a sortie to a Norway whilst Tony Hill and AFP Fane attempt ‘dicer’ trips to photograph Tirpitz in her berth. Norway is enduring bad weather but Tony Hill managed to get through to take this low level oblique of Tirpitz (Medmenham Archive).

NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK 2024 This week is #naw2024 and as a major part of our project is helping young people with future careers, we our proud to be making a difference. Last year we attended Parliament with apprentices from easyJet Careers and GKN Aerospace and their inputs to ministers on…

Fantastic to see this recent feature by Commonwealth War Graves Commission on RAF Photographic Reconnaissance and greater still that it features two of AA810’s pilots as examples of the men still missing to this day. www.cwgc.org/our-work/blo...

TODAY IN 1942… Freddie Malcolm took AA810 to Norway on a successful mission to photograph the build up of Luftwaffe resources at both Lade and Vaernes, the two airfields tasked with protecting the Tirpitz. Freddie Malcolm had been in the Army at the start of the war and…

ON THIS DAY IN 1942 Robert Tomlinson took AA810 on a successful high level reconnaissance of Tirpitz and the Scheer in Trondheim bay in a round trip lasting nearly five hours….

AUSTRALIA DAY Today is the national day of Australia, and an important day to recognise the 87 Australian nationals who flew RAF unarmed reconnaissance. Many Australians flew with the Mediterranean and Far East units including 682 Sqn shown in today’s original wartime colour…