Image Collection Directorate of Overseas Surveys
A black and white aerial photo of a city. The streets are arranged in a grid. There is a coastline to the right with an area of dark sea at the right-hand edge. To the left are two meandering watercourses and an area of undeveloped wetland.

Banjul, capital of The Gambia
Collection: DOS, Sortie: 124/GA/0024, Frame: 0002 (03 February 1972)

Directorate of Overseas Surveys

The Directorate of Overseas Surveys (DOS) Collection of aerial photography covers large parts of Africa, East Asia, and the islands of the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The 3D aerial photography in the DOS Collection provides a unique historical perspective, recording the changing urban and rural landscapes of large parts of the Commonwealth (and beyond) throughout the second half of the twentieth century.

History

The Directorate of Colonial Surveys (DCS) was established by the Colonial Office in 1946 with responsibility for mapping those parts of the British Empire which had no survey capability of their own. As decolonisation gathered pace through the twentieth century, in 1957 the DCS was renamed the Directorate of Overseas Surveys.

A black and white aerial photo of a limestone landscape. The limestone looks wrinkled and has created an intricate wavy pattern, with channels and areas of raised ground running at all sorts of angles across the image.
The karst limestone of central Jamaica, mapped for the first time by DOS; Collection: DOS, Sortie: 55/JA/0006, Frame: 0052 (15 March 1961)

The Directorate was charged with two key tasks. It was to provide national geodetic frameworks throughout the British Empire that would contribute to understanding the size and shape of the earth and constitute the basis for accurate mapping. It would also produce mapping using modern methods, based on aerial photography. This would in turn help to inform the development and administration of each country.

A black and white aerial photo of a village. The village is in the bottom right quadrant of the image and circular in shape. Paths radiate from the village into the tree-studded savannah surrounding it. Some fields are visible around the village.
Nanguru, a remote village in eastern Nigeria reliant on subsistence agriculture; Collection: DOS, Sortie: 149/NG/0013, Frame: 0070 (29 November 1974)

To begin with, the remit of the DOS was British colonies. However, as these colonies moved to independence, the Directorate’s scope was expanded to include countries within and outwith the Commonwealth, which meant the Directorate's surveyors ultimately surveyed 55 countries around the world. To start with, photography was largely taken by Royal Air Force (RAF) photographic reconnaissance squadrons. However, from 1953 the DOS predominantly issued contracts to commercial aerial survey firms.

After merging into the Ordnance Survey in 1984, the organisation became known as the Overseas Surveys Directorate. In 1991, following completion of the last significant aid-funded mapping projects, its name changed one last time, to Ordnance Survey International, and its main activity became consultancy, primarily in eastern Europe. Ordnance Survey International ceased operations in 2001.

Between 2021 and 2023, the DOS Collection became the first collection at the National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP) to be digitised using an innovative automated process involving customised collaborative robots.

A black and white aerial photo of a coastline. The land to the right is mountainous, with three watercourses running down to the sea on the left. A scattered settlement is visible along the edge of the coast.
Plymouth, Montserrat - the town was destroyed by volcanic activity in the late 1990s; Collection: DOS, Sortie: 8/MO/0001, Frame: 0033 (20 December 1952)

Acquisition

The photographs and other records were held by DOS from their creation until its merger with Ordnance Survey in 1984. Following a review by the Ordnance Survey in 2002, responsibility for the Collection passed to The National Archives. The following year the Collection – comprising of the 1st Print Library, definitive finding aids and air photo mosaic collection – was transferred to the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol. The Collection was officially deposited with NCAP in 2012.

A black and white aerial photo of three very large areas of fields. The fields are arranged in grids of squares which stand out from the surrounding savannah-like landscape.
Land in Kenya enclosed into plantations for sisal, a crop native to Mexico; Collection: DOS, Sortie: CPE/KEN/0125 Frame: 5263 (15 February 1948)

Scope

Although the Directorate’s primary focus was ex-British colonies and Commonwealth countries, the Collection is not exclusively a record of the British Empire. Among the 55 surveyed countries from 1946 to 2001 are nations in Australasia and East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, the British Antarctic Territory, and islands in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.

Geographical coverage
Algeria Gibraltar Saint Kitts and Nevis
Anguilla Grenada Saint Lucia
Antigua & Barbuda Guyana Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Argentina Hong Kong Senegal
Bahamas Indonesia Seychelles
Barbados Iran Sierra Leone
Belize Jamaica Singapore
Bermuda Jarvis Island Solomon Islands
Botswana Kenya Somalia
British Antarctic Territory Kiribati South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
British Virgin Islands Lesotho South Sudan
Brunei Liberia Sudan
Cameroon Malawi Suriname
Cayman Islands Malaysia Tanzania
Chile Maldives Togo
Christmas Island Malta Tonga
Cook Islands Mauritius Trinidad and Tobago
Costa Rica Montserrat Turks and Caicos Islands
Cyprus Morocco Tuvalu
Dominica Nepal Uganda
Eswatini Nigeria US Virgin Islands
Ethiopia Oman Vanuatu
Falkand Islands Philippines Yemen
Fiji Pitcairn Islands Zambia
The Gambia Prince Edward Islands Zimbabwe
Ghana Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

Contents

The Collection is made up of:

  • 1.7 million aerial photographic prints
  • associated sortie plots, cover traces, card indexes, base maps, contracts, calibration certificates and photo mosaics

Air Photo Finder

The entirety of this collection has been digitised and is scheduled for release on the Air Photo Finder.

Subscriptions

Subscribe to NCAP to view zoomable images and finding aids. 

ArchivesSpace

Visit ArchivesSpace to learn about the Collection hierarchy.

Air Photo Finder  Subscriptions  ArchivesSpace - external  

Related reading

IN THIS SECTION

A black and white aerial photo of about a dozen ships pulled up on a beach. The land beyond the beach has been divided up into a grid, and the scene is slightly obscured by clouds or smoke.

Allied Central Interpretation Unit

The ACIU Collection is home to 5.5 million photographic reconnaissance images taken during the Second World War, providing a visual record of occupied Western Europe.

A colour aerial photo of the Wimbledon area in London. Streets of houses are visible at the right and left edges. A golf course with bunkers and trees occupies the middle. To the left of centre are about 20 tennis courts and a tennis stadium.

British Aerial Survey Firms

NCAP has extensive holdings of photography taken by several important British aerial survey companies over a period of 50 years.

A black and white aerial photo of a city on the edge of the sea. There are buildings and an industrial area in the centre and fields to the right. The photo has been marked with purple pencil highlighting blocks of buildings.

Defence Geographic Centre

The DGC Collection contains aerial photographs of locations around the world, originally used to create maps for issue to British and Commonwealth forces.

A black and white aerial photo of coastal wetlands. The image has the appearance of abstract swirls and patterns in shades of black, white and grey. There seem to be a few trees in the centre and an area of water to the left.

Environment Agency

The EA Collection is a valuable record of the quickly changing coastal landscapes of the south-east of England, from Bournemouth round to Gravesend.

A black and white aerial photomap of a town surrounded by an irregular grid of black and white fields. The photomap is annotated with place names – including Stargard, the name of the town – and is overlaid with numbered map grid squares.

German Air Force

The GX Collection contains photos taken by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War, which were then used for intelligence purposes during the Cold War.

An oblique black and white aerial photo of a city with a coastline. The sea is at the bottom left corner. A small number of ships are on the water. The city is made up of what appears to be low-rise apartment blocks. There is a park in the centre.

Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre

The JARIC Collection holds millions of Cold War reconnaissance images and forms unique record of British interests and activities.

A black and white aerial photo of 17 planes at an airfield. The planes are all situated in bays off two tracks running vertically through the image – one light-coloured and one dark. The planes and tracks are surrounded by featureless fields.

Mediterranean Allied Photo Reconnaissance Wing

The MAPRW Collection contains c.150,000 aerial photographs taken during WWII by Allied units operating from North Africa and Italy.

A colour aerial photo with a park containing trees and red paths at the left, and Buckingham Palace in the bottom left corner. The River Thames is to the right with the London Eye lying flat over it. The shadow of Big Ben is to the right of centre.

Millennium Mapping

NCAP is home to the Getmapping and UK Perspectives Collections, two parallel projects to create a visual record of the UK at the turn of the millennium.

A black and white oblique aerial photo of an airborne plane from side-on. The plane has one propellor and a see-through cockpit with the pilot visible. There is a rear-facing gun turret, and the fuselage is marked with an American star and ‘312’.

National Archives and Records Administration

The NARA Collection contains worldwide imagery digitised as part of a partnership with the United States National Archives and Records Administration.

A colour aerial photo of the sea, very dark blue to the left and white from the glare of the sun on the right. In the middle a thin peninsula covered in brown grass extends into the sea. It has white cliffs and ends in a series of individual stacks.

Natural Environment Research Council

The NERC Collection contains over 27,300 aerial photographs taken around Europe for research purposes on behalf of the British Geological Survey.

A colour aerial photo of islands surrounded by a deep blue sea. There is one big island left of centre and a small one to the right. The islands have green grass and a mix of rocky and sandy shores. The sea is light blue over the sand.

Scottish Office Air Photographs Unit

The Scottish Office APU Collection provides a remarkable, 100-year record of Scotland’s changing landscapes from 1.5 million aerial photos of Scotland.