Reconnaissance Gallery

Dropping from a Kite Balloon 1917

A British observer drops from the car of a kite balloon, attached to the parachute which is hanging over the side of the basket. His colleague has already jumped and is on his way to the ground. The observations balloons were tethered to the ground, but if a sudden squall were to blow up, there was the risk of the cable snapping and the balloon drifting over enemy held territory. In such circumstances, charts and instruments would be thrown out and then each observer in turn would make what was known as the drop out'. Hopefully they would land safely, and not behind enemy lines. Date: 1917

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

East African Reconnaissance Regiment in Burma

Photograph of a soldier from the East African Reconnaissance Regiment, checking a machine-gun, Burma, 1945. The East African Reconnaissance Regiment, part of 11th East African Division, was equipped with armoured cars and light tanks. In this image a soldier checks a Browning machine-gun. His division incorporated battalions of the King?s African Rifles and other forces from Kenya, Uganda, Nyasaland (now Malawi), Somaliland (Somalia) and Tanganyika (Tanzania). The Africans proved extremely hardy and tenacious in several battles, both as combatant soldiers, medical staff, and carriers. One of 12 photographs captioned: East African Reconnaissance Regiment in Burma. From photograph album of 147 photographs, 1944-1945. Associated with Brig M W Briggs and the 11th East African Division and the King's African Rifles, World War Two, Far East (1941-1945). Date: 1945

© The National Army Museum / Mary Evans Picture Library

U-2 spy plane with fictitious NASA markings, USA, 1960. Creator: NASA

U-2 spy plane with fictitious NASA markings, USA, 1960. After Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union during a CIA spy flight on May 1, 1960, NASA issued a press release with a cover story about a U-2 conducting weather research that may have strayed off course after the pilot reported difficulties with his oxygen equipment. To bolster the cover-up, a U-2 was quickly painted in NASA markings, with a fictitious NASA serial number, and put on display for the news media at the NASA Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base on May 6, 1960. The U-2 cover story in 1956 was that it was an NACA plane to conduct high-altitude weather research. But various observers doubted this story from the beginning. Certainly the Soviets did not believe it once the aircraft began overflying their territory. The NASA cover story quickly blew up in the agency's face when both Gary Powers and aircraft wreckage were displayed by the Soviet Union, proving that it was a reconnaissance aircraft. This caused embarrassment for several top NASA officials

© Heritage Space/Heritage Images