OS Photomaps - 217 results

The First World War was an important stimulus to the use of air photography in mapping and survey work, both internationally and for Ordnance Survey. Aerial survey methods were not generally employed by Ordnance Survey in the inter-war period, however, apart from experimental work in the 1920s. However, during the Second World War, millions of air photos were captured by the Royal Air Force. Their value for military reconnaissance and topographic surveying was proved beyond all doubt.

With rapid improvements to cameras, equipment and techniques, it was also clear by the end of the war that aerial survey methods would have a great value in peacetime mapping work. The extensive RAF aerial photographic survey of Great Britain (1944-1950), called Operation Revue, was intended to assist OS in revising its maps of the UK following the great changes that had taken place during World War II. From this imagery, aerial mosaics along National Grid sheet lines were produced as an interim measure by OS, as a quick and cheap expedient before proper paper mapping could be surveyed. In total 221 mosaics were published of Scotland, focusing on the more settled areas that had greatest requirements for reconstruction and development. Creating the mosaics was a technically skilled job, involving: