Patrick Hurley, MP for Southport, has joined the campaign to commemorate the brave pilots and navigators of the Photographic Reconnaissance Units (PRU), who served during the Second World War.
Photo Reconnaissance Units
The 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.
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.
The ‘Spitfire AA810 Project’ has therefore led the campaign to establish such a memorial in central London.
Local Hero
Among those who served in the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit was Alistair McDonald.
Pilot Officer Alistair Thompson McDonald claimed he was born on April 11th 1913 in Bishopmills near Elgin, Morayshire, although evidence suggests he was actually born in December 1907. His parents were John McDonald, a Sorting Clerk and Telegraphist at the local Post Office, and Lydia McDonald who had been a dressmaker.
While he would appear to have grown up around the Elgin area, by the time of the war he was living in Southport. In January 1926 he enlisted in the Territorial Army in the Tank Corps for the duration of four years however in October 1928 he set off for Malaya. He returned from Malaya on April 29th, 1932, and became manager of the Regal Cinema in Southport in the years leading up to the war.
Joining the RAF, he trained to be a pilot and subsequently joined No.1 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on the 30th of August 1941. On the 13th of March 1942 he was tasked with photographing the naval base at Wilhelmshaven but was shot down on his return, parachuting to safety. Caught straight away he would ultimately end up as a prisoner in Stalag Luft III.
He made 9 escape attempts during his time in captivity, as part of the Great Escape he was involved in tunnel security measures which earned him a place in the Great Escape.
He was the 73rd man to leave the tunnel on the night of the 24th March and he would remain on the run until the 26th before being caught and handed over to the gestapo. Unlike 50 of his colleagues, McDonald was one of the lucky ones to survive the fall out of the Great Escape. Being returned to camp he would be interned until the long march of January 1945, he would escape during that March making his way back to allied lines.
Post war he married and moved to Edinburgh where he ran a laundry business in Leith. On the 26th October 1965 he was a passenger onboard the BEA Vickers Vanguard which crashed on approach to Heathrow airport killing everybody on board.
Supporting the campaign for a national memorial is local MP, Patrick Hurley. Commenting:
“I am delighted to support this fantastic campaign to commemorate those who served in the Photographic Reconnaissance Units.
This includes Alistair McDonald, who served admirably under exceptionally difficult conditions.
I look forward to working with the Spitfire AA810 Project to establish this memorial and I look forward to being able to pay my respects there once it is completed.”
If there is anyone who knew Alistair McDonald, or anyone else 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 #
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