What The RAF Flight Codes Can Reveal

The extensive collection of RAF aerial photographs held by the Royal Commission include vertical and low-level oblique views of Wales. The identification flight codes for the flights can reveal an incredible level of background detail.

One of the common identifiers starts with number 540, which is then normally followed by another unique flight reference number. The first portion identifies the film as originating from 540 squadron (motto “Sine Qua Non” – Indispensable), based at RAF Benson, Oxfordshire. Formed in October 1942 at Leuchars, as a Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), the squadron would be tasked with flights over Norway, France, Austria, Germany and Poland. A detachment was later based at Gibraltar, and flew over France, Italy and North Africa. Their first were Supermarine Spitfires, but the squadron was later re-equipped with de Havilland Mosquitoes. At the end of 1952, the squadron used the English Electric Canberra – arguably the best aerial photographic reconnaissance platform ever devised.

Several of the boxes of prints include a copy of the Photographic Reconnaissance Report (RAF Form 2047). When used in conjunction with the prints, they tell a fascinating story.

The paperwork for flight 540/538 reveals that on 25 June 1951 a type PR Mk. 34 Mosquito (number RG259) equipped with a port-facing F24 oblique camera, took off from RAF Benson. The pilot was Flight Officer Kepka, assisted by Flight Officer Dolezal (navigator/camera operator). They were tasked with a low-level oblique aerial photographic survey of two areas of the South Wales coast. The sortie run started at 12:35, and maintaining an altitude of 1,700ft, the first portion of the mission covered from Rumney, Cardiff to Beachley Head near Chepstow. The aircraft then headed west, and photographed the coastline from Mumbles Head, Swansea to Kenfig Burrows, near Porthcawl, finishing the survey at 13:35. The aircraft then returned to RAF Benson, landing at 14:10.

According to Form 2047, the processing of the 237 photographs commenced at 16:10 and was completed at 17:00. During inspection of the finished article, Corporal G.L. Sampson wrote a remark at the bottom of the form, “Thin cloud shadow on some. Two negs with shutter failure”.

The 15 x 14cm prints are a remarkable and detailed record of the coastal area, captured as a moment of time. In frame 0040 a portion of the Ebbw River can be seen the foreground, as well as the Alexandra Docks (NPRN 403430), and the distinctive Newport Transporter Bridge (NPRN 43157) in the top left of the photograph. Only three shots further on, frame 0043 captures a “White Funnel” paddle steamer (possibly the “Glen Usk”) making its way up the River Usk, as it passes the entrance to Alexandra Docks.

The second leg of the flight – of Swansea Bay – also has some remarkable images. Frame 0153 is of the Clyne Valley, and in the centre of the frame Clyne Castle (NPRN 18354) and the layout of its formal garden (NPRN 265686) can be seen. A few moments later, frame 0163 shows a very different landscape, that of the distinctive Swansea Guildhall (NPRN 144) and the surrounding area.

Our aerial photographic collections include a huge variety of views, ranging from 1919 to the present day and many of these can be viewed on Coflein, our online database, or by visiting the Royal Commission’s library, which is open daily from Monday to Friday.

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Cyfle i siapio Coflein: cronfa ddata ar-lein y Comisiwn Brenhinol. Hoffem glywed eich barn!

Darlith a gweithdai yn y Comisiwn Brenhinol, 14 Hydref


Mae’r Comisiwn Brenhinol yn gwahodd ymwelwyr i fwynhau prynhawn o ddarlithoedd  ac i gymryd rhan mewn trafodaeth i werthuso Coflein, cronfa ddata ar-lein y Comisiwn, Dydd Mawrth, 14 Hydref, 2014.

Mae Coflein yn darparu mynediad ar-lein i Gofnod Henebion Cenedlaethol Cymru – cronfa ddata, catalog ac archif digidol yr amgylchedd hanesyddol cenedlaethol.

I ddechrau’r prynhawn, fe fydd David Thomas, Pennaeth Data a Thechnoleg, yn eich croesawu ac yn rhoi cyflwyniad i Coflein. Bydd gweithdai’n cael eu cynnal wedyn i roi cyfle i bawb drafod cronfa ddata’r Comisiwn Brenhinol o safleoedd a chasgliadau, gofyn cwestiynau, trafod problemau sydd wedi codi, ac awgrymu datblygiadau at y dyfodol. Os oes gennych ddiddordeb mewn archaeoleg a’r amgylchedd hanesyddol, hanes lleol, awyrluniau, hanes tai ac adeiladau crefyddol, hanes morwrol a llongddrylliadau, fe fydd ffynonellau sy’n berthnasol i chi ar Coflein.

Bydd dau weithdy’n cael eu cynnal. Bydd y cyntaf rhwng 2pm a 3.30pm a’r ail rhwng 4pm a 5.30pm. Bydd lluniaeth ysgafn yn cael ei ddarparu. I gael rhagor o wybodaeth ac i drefnu’ch lle, cysylltwch â Nicola Roberts: mailto:nicola.roberts@cbhc.gov.uk Ffôn: 01970 621248.

Croeso i bawb, pa faint bynnag o brofiad sydd gennych. Dewch i ddarganfod rhagor a rhannu eich barn!

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Summer drought in south and west Wales reveals new archaeological sites

There were more archaeological surprises this year for the Royal Commission’s aerial archaeologist, as  widespread hot weather in June and July parched grasslands and showed ‘cropmarks’ in ripening fields of wheat. 



Figure 1: Right place, right time. Known cropmark of an Iron Age defended enclosure (upper centre) north of Cardigan, photographed from the air as it is harvested. In an hour or two the site will be cropped, and will disappear until the next dry summer (Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 23 July 2014).

Dr Toby Driver explained:  ‘Despite the hot weather, frequent rain showers in many parts of Wales meant that cropmarks and parchmarks did not develop everywhere. Only in the south and west, across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan did the persistent drought reveal scores of prehistoric and Roman sites. Parchmarks of the Roman road running west of Carmarthen, as far as Wiston in Pembrokeshire, were seen for the first time since 1994 showing just how dry it got in the south-west.’

Dr Driver continued. ‘At the Royal Commission we have to be responsive to changing weather and crop conditions each summer. As the photo of the enclosure north of Cardigan shows, an hour either side of a flight can make the difference between obtaining a permanent record of a cropmark, or missing it completely.’

Figure 2: The Roman road west of Carmarthen, showing as a parched line approaching Whitland for the first time since 1994 (Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 30 July 2014).

Pembrokeshire held the most surprises, which was astonishing given the number of discoveries made across the county in the 2013 summer drought . As the dry summer of 2014 wore on, this coastal landscape yielded yet more unrecorded prehistoric sites. Close by the Rhoscrowther oil refinery in south Pembrokeshire a splendid concentric prehistoric defended enclosure was discovered in a field of ripening wheat. New defended enclosures of Iron Age or Romano-British type and plough-levelled Bronze Age barrows were recorded near Dale, near Broadhaven, and along the north coast near Carreg Sampson chambered tomb, Trefin.

Figure 3: The ghostly outline of a new Iron Age concentric enclosure near Rhoscrowther, south Pembrokeshire (AP_2014_3228, Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 22 July 2014)

AdFigure 4: Spectacular colours accompanied further discoveries of enclosures and hillforts close to Dale in south Pembrokeshire (AP_2014_3294, Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 22 July 2014).

A number of new sites were also discovered in south Wales, and included an unexpected prehistoric enclosure on a rocky headland at Oxwich on Gower, just south-east of the famous Oxwich Castle.



Figure 5. General view of Oxwich Castle, Gower, with cropmarks of the new defended enclosure in the right foreground (Crown Copyright RCAHMW, 23 July 2014).

Work back in the office to catalogue and record these discoveries will continue at the Royal Commission well into the winter months.

See our online gallery of aerial photographs for further images from our collections.

                                                                                                                             Toby Drive

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Y Comisiwn yn Cydweithio i Gyfnewid Gwybodaeth

Dr Alan Chamberlain, Uwch Gymrawd yn Adran Gyfrifiadureg Prifysgol Nottingham

O fis Gorffennaf, bydd Dr Alan Chamberlain, Uwch Gymrawd yn Adran Gyfrifiadureg Prifysgol Nottingham, yn gweithio gyda thîm Data a Thechnoleg y Comisiwn Brenhinol ar ôl i’r Brifysgol ddyfarnu grant o dan y prosiect Cyfnewid Gwybodaeth yn yr Economi Creadigol – Cymrodoriaeth Archifau, Cynulleidfaoedd ac Asedau.

Yn rhinwedd ei swydd fel Ymchwilydd Ymweld, bydd Dr Chamberlain yn gweithio ochr yn ochr â Tom Pert, Rheolwr Datblygu Ar-Lein y Comisiwn, i nodi cyfleoedd i wneud adnoddau Coflein a Chasgliad y Werin Cymru yn fwy hygyrch i’r cyhoedd.

Mae Tom a Dr Chamberlain wedi cydweithio yn y gorffennol ar ddatblygu Placebooks.org, llwyfan cyhoeddi digidol prototeip wedi’i seilio ar y we a’r ffôn clyfar sy’n galluogi defnyddwyr i gynhyrchu tywyslyfrau digidol pwrpasol gan ddefnyddio data o Gasgliad y Werin Cymru a gwefannau eraill.

Meddai Dr Chamberlain, “Mae’n fraint cael cynnig cyfle i weithio gyda’r Comisiwn Brenhinol. Mae’n gwneud gwaith arloesol a hynod ddiddorol. Mae technoleg ddigidol a threftadaeth yn chwarae rhan gynyddol bwysig yn niwylliant ac economi Cymru. Sefydliadau fel y Comisiwn Brenhinol sy’n datblygu ac yn cyflwyno cyfryngau newydd sy’n caniatáu i ni edrych yn ôl ar ein hanes a darganfod ffyrdd newydd o ryngweithio ag e.”

Gwybodaeth bellach: tom.pert@rcahmw.gov.uk

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Awyrluniwch yr Awyren yn y Gelli Gandryll!

Y cynnyrch gorffenedig: awyren wedi’i hawyrlunio!

 Mewn heulwen braf, ymunodd y Comisiwn Brenhinol â chyrff treftadaeth eraill ar stondin Hanes Cymru yn y Gelli Gandryll eleni, lle cafodd gweithgareddau plant eu cynnal bob dydd. Roedd cyfraniad gwreiddiol y Comisiwn Brenhinol - Awyrluniwch yr Awyren! - yn llwyddiant ysgubol, gan roi cyfle i bawb ddarganfod treftadaeth gyfoethog Cymru o’r awyr drwy ddefnyddio casgliad y Comisiwn Brenhinol o awyrluniau (sydd i gyd ar gael ar Coflein), pot mawr o lud ac awyren bedair troedfedd o hyd! Drwy gydol Dydd Sadwrn, bu ymwelwyr â’r stondin yn brysur yn torri allan ac yn gludio mwy na 700 o ddelweddau i orchuddio’r awyren bren ac roedd y canlyniad  terfynol yn hynod drawiadol.

Bydd gan Robert, arth o ysgol gynradd yn Llundain, lawer i’w ddweud ar ôl mynd adref ar ôl hanner tymor!

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A Corpus of Early Medieval Inscribed Stones and Stone Sculpture in Wales, Volume lll: North Wales

Published by University of Wales Press, April 2013.

By Nancy Edwards

This volume, the final of three, focuses on the inscribed stones and stone sculpture of North Wales c. AD 400-1150. It provides fresh insights and new interpretations of over 150 monuments, many of which have been found since V. E. Nash-Williams's Early Christian Monuments of Wales was published in 1950. The introductory discussion analyses the historical and archaeological context of the monuments, earlier research, geology, their form and function, ornament and iconography, and the language and lettering of the inscriptions, as well as their cultural connections, dating and chronology. The well-illustrated catalogue provides more detailed descriptions and analyses of individual monuments.

The Royal Commission has contributed many striking photographs and illustrations. Techniques used to record these stones photographically included night photography using a generator to power studio lights positioned to provide oblique lighting. The illustrative work within the book derives from rubbings produced in the field, which provided an accurate record of each monument including the inscriptions and letter-forms.

The project was led by Professor Nancy Edwards of Bangor University.

Article by: Charles Green, Graphics Officer, Public Engagement Team.


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