The photographs included & analysed here were taken by the Royal Flying Corps to provide reconnaissance for the British Army on the Western Front & are drawn for the huge archive held by The Imperial War Museum. Few have had the courage to delve into the ` Box Collection`. Nicholas Watkis is one. The images have been chosen to reveal significant actions & have been carefully annotated to show the terrain & defences, pinpointing strongpoints, machine guns, mortars & gun batteries. The seven battles are Neuve Chapelle, Loos, La Boiselle, Flers, Vimy Ridge, Cambrai & Amiens. Not only does the real work of the RFC become clear
- shooting down enemy aircraft was entirely ancillary to photo recon
- the reader also, quite literally, sees for himself just what the Western Front looked like. He also understands how that appearance affected the plans of British High Comm&.