I came across some aerial survey photos of a local factory bombing. I was just wondering would this have been taken by a local unit on an adhoc basis or was there any dedicated units for this kind of work. I can not see any unit listed just general directions , location and date plus photo number. Some pics show the tip of a prop and others do not , so I surmise they were taken with a hand held camera and not fixed.
This looks, to me, as if it is part of a report for the Home Office Bomb Damage Census. I have seen many photos, like this, from that series, for serious bomb incidents (not all bomb incidents were recorded with photos). There would also have been a map, showing the direction from which the photos (in this case, aerial) were taken. The Home Office had a dedicated civilian unit (architects and professors etc) which looked at buildings that had withstood damage well, and those which collapsed with little force. The reports go into detail about the types of brick used, and roof materials etc. It appeared, to me, as if the reports were about learning lessons, for building in the future. The reports also mention how much production time was lost, in the case of industrial buildings. So three bombs, in total, were dropped....?
This was Ransome & Marles bearing factory in Newark on Trent , raided by 2 x He111 of KG4 7/3/41. Both aircraft dropped 1 x SC500 and 4 x SC250's. 1st aircraft the 4 x SC250 detonated in first pass, the SC500 failed or was a time delay ( no reports ) on second pass , third pass was strafing and filming. Hour later 2nd aircraft dropped all 5 in one dash at very low altitude only the SC500 dropped last as he pulled up exploded. Either the SC250 were timed delayed or failed to arm. 41 killed , 160+ injured , full production was resumed after 2 weeks by moving the plant about. Rebuilding carried on over the next few months.
