Scanned image of Luftwaffe vertical air photograph of Lerwick and part of Bressay, Shetland islands

Description Scanned image of Luftwaffe vertical air photograph of Lerwick and part of Bressay, Shetland islands

Date 1940

Collection Records of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), Second World War Aerial Reconnaissance

Catalogue Number SC 799768

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of C 47694

Scope and Content Luftwaffe aerial photograph of Lerwick Harbour, Shetland Islands In this photograph, particular attention has been paid to the harbours of Lerwick and the east coast of Bressay Sound (annotated as 'A1' and 'A2' respectively). While most of the features identified are industrial, such as warehouses ('8' and '10') and jetties ('7' and '9'), Luftwaffe intelligence officers have also highlighted Fort Charlotte ('3') whose outline be seen in Lerwick. Attention is also drawn to the possibility of the Sound of Bressay being used as a possible seaplane landing area, despite the lack of airfield buildings and slipways for the aircraft. Luftwaffe intelligence officers would have used these aerial photographs to identify new targets for bombing sorties and to assess how effective earlier raids had been. Attention was paid to industrial sites, and places which could be of military use, such as harbours. Aerial photographs, complete with annotations and notes, were issued to German bomber crews along with maps to help them identify their targets more easily. Although Luftwaffe intelligence-gathering sorties continued throughout the war, most were flown in 1939 and 1940. These photographs were used to supplement the considerable dossier of intelligence accumulated in the late 1930s by the German national airline Lufthansa. While ostensibly surveying new routes, Lufthansa aircraft were actually being used by German intelligence to covertly photograph British industries and military installations. Taken during aerial reconnaissance in April 1940, this Luftwaffe intelligence photograph shows harbours on both coasts of Bressay Sound and the town of Lerwick. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/799768

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap