Member of Parliament for Burton and Uttoxeter, Kate Kniveton, is supporting a campaign to commemorate the brave pilots and navigators of the Photographic Reconnaissance Units (PRU) 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 to the PRU pilots and navigators.
Local Hero
Among those who served in the PRU was Peter Rose. Peter Garratt Rose was born on the 17th May 1916, the son of John and Ida Rose, in Burton-on-Trent. He joined the RAF and trained as a pilot, being selected to fly unarmed reconnaissance missions with No.1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit.
On the 3rd May 1941 on only his second operational mission, Rose took off in a Spitfire for a reconnaissance of the Ruhr. For reasons unknown but likely mechanical, he had cause to jump from his aircraft, his parachute catching on the structure of the aircraft as he jumped.
With his parachute damaged it failed to fully open and Peter Rose tragically fell to his death near Maireux, Belgium where he is buried to this day.
Supporting the campaign is local MP, Kate Kniveton. Commenting:
“I am delighted to support the campaign to commemorate those who served in the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit.
This includes Burton-born Peter Rose, who served under exceptionally difficult conditions, and I would urge anyone who might have any more information on him to get in touch.
I look forward to working with the Spitfire AA810 Project to establish this memorial and to being able to pay my respects there once it is completed.”
If there is anyone related to or who knew Peter Rose, or if anyone know someone 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, [email protected].
