The campaign has enjoyed significant political backing, with more than 200 MPs from eight different parties, including Milton Keynes Central MP Emily Darlington, supporting the memorial campaign.
The Minister was speaking during a parliamentary debate ahead of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, a debate in which several MPs also mentioned the contribution of the PRU in the Allied victory 80 years ago.
Photo Reconnaissance Units
The Photographic Reconnaissance Units (PRU) was formed on the 24th of September 1939 and throughout the Second World War it operated highly dangerous, clandestine photographic reconnaissance operations over all theatres of operation, and captured more than 26 million images of enemy operations and installations during the war.
The purpose of the PRU was to provide up-to-date intelligence to strategically plan the Allied actions in the war. Flying Spitfires and Mosquitos, the intelligence it gathered was used by all the armed forces, giving same day intelligence on enemy activity.
The intelligence provided by the PRU was used in the Cabinet War Rooms – now the ‘Churchill War Rooms’ located underneath the Treasury – and was instrumental in the planning of major operations; D-Day and the Dambusters Raid, the monitoring of major shipping movements such as the Bismarck and Tirpitz, and the locating of the site of the V1 and V2 rocket launching site at Peenemünde, as well as many other intelligence successes.
Due to the clandestine nature of their operations – they flew solo operations, unarmed and unarmoured – the death rate was nearly fifty percent. However, despite having one of the lowest survival rates of the war – life expectancy in the PRU was around two and a half months – there is no national memorial to the PRU.
Therefore, since 2021, the Spitfire AA810 Project has campaigned to establish such a memorial to the 1746 PRU pilots and navigators, with a major breakthrough in the campaign coming this week with the Government’s announcement on Tuesday.
Supporting the campaign for a national memorial is local MP, Emily Darlington. Commenting: “I am delighted to support this really important campaign to commemorate those who served in the Photographic Reconnaissance Units, along with recognising the work of the Photographic Interpreters, a third of whom were women, who were based in Buckinghamshire.
"This includes Francis Rashleigh, who was from Woburn Sands, and who served admirably under exceptionally difficult conditions.
"I look forward to working with the Spitfire AA810 Project to establish this memorial and I can’t wait to be able to pay my respects there once it is completed.”
Photographic Interpreters
It is also intended that the memorial will recognise the Photographic Interpreters, who were based at RAF Medmenham, in Buckinghamshire. Using stereoscopy, they analysed the photographs for intelligence, with the intelligence report arriving at the Cabinet War Rooms within 24 hours of the plane landing.
The 635 Photographic Interpreters – a third of whom were women - included the likes of post-war actor, Dirk Bogarde, and Sarah Churchill, the wartime Prime Minister’s daughter. Their role was crucially important to the entire operation, as without their skill and analysis, the 26 million photographs would not have produced the war winning intelligence that it did, ensuring that the pilots sacrifice was not in vain.
International Effort
The memorial also intends to recognise the internationalism of the PRU, with 24 different nationalities confirmed to date as having served in photo reconnaissance, with countries from every continent represented.
These include the USA, Brazil, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Fiji, among many others, including most of the occupied countries of Europe as well. With such a widespread representation, the PRU arguably provides the greatest example of the international effort to defeat Fascism of the entire Second World War.
Local Heroes
While the PRU had many different nationalities serving in it, it was still made up predominantly by servicepeople from throughout the United Kingdom. Among those who served in the PRU was Francis Rashleigh.
Flight Lieutenant Francis Evelyn George Rashleigh DFC was the son of the Revd. William Rashleigh MA and his wife Katherine, the family residing in Woburn Sands, Buckinghamshire.
Joining the RAF he learned to fly and served initially in Photo Reconnaissance before being posted to an Anti-Aircraft Co-Operation Unit. In July 1941 the same year as he married his wife Ann, he was awarded the DFC while flying with 202 Squadron for rescuing a crew of a downed aircraft who had crashed on the French Moroccan Coast and had been captured by hostile locals.
Having first located the wreck and then identifying the captured crew, he landed in the desert and extracted the crew under heavy small arms fire. He stayed with the squadron when it was moved to the Eastern Mediterranean.
However, on the 30th September 1943, he was shot down while flying a communications flight from Crete to Kos, both Rashleigh aged 23, and his navigator Sgt Platt aged 25 were killed.
Location
The intended location for the memorial would be outside the Treasury, close to the entrance of the Imperial War Museum’s Churchill War Rooms, facing St James’ Park. The location has received approval in principle from the Royal Parks and Department for Culture, Media and Sport to proceed to the next stage, which includes ground surveys, design, and planning.
Welcoming the announcement, Spitfire AA810 Project Director, Tony Hoskins, said: “Since we first looked at commemorating the highly clandestine work of the RAF unarmed Reconnaissance Squadrons, we have uncovered some incredible stories of the work these young men and women carried out, their actions unknown yet so vital to millions of people impacted by the conflict.
"Now on the 80th anniversary of VE Day it is so fitting to have the Government support this major step forward in recognising their work and sacrifice.
"RAF Photo Reconnaissance used high-speed, high-altitude aircraft and the work of these young men and women became a vital component of every Allied campaign with the intelligence gained considered necessary for the planning of any operation.
"The work of the RAF PRU enabled Allied leaders to monitor almost every aspect of the enemy’s activity and act accordingly, and it is a fitting tribute to see this work commemorated in the very heart of London, so close to where that intelligence was used so critically”.
If there is anyone related to or knew someone who served in the PRU during the war, please go the Spitfire AA810 Project website ( www.spitfireaa810.co.uk), or get in touch with Tony Hoskins, Tony@spitfireaa810.co.uk.