News The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives moves to Keele University

The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives moves to Keele University

A grand red brick building with cupulas at each corner. In front of it is a lawn scattered with fallen leaves and lit by raking sunshine. Trees are visible to either side of the building, and there is a row of yew trees between it and the lawn.

At the end of the Second World War, millions of aerial reconnaissance images of locations around the world had been accumulated at the Allied Central Interpretation Unit (ACIU), RAF Medmenham. This archive contained a visual record of the world at war. In the postwar years, interest in the wider use of the imagery grew amongst many of the academics who had been wartime Photographic Interpreters.

A black and white photo of a room filled with metal racking. Every rack is filled with numbered cardboard boxes. A man and woman in uniform stand with their backs to the camera. A sign reads ‘Sorties This Way: fetch your own but never put them back’.

The ACIU library of aerial photography at RAF Medmenham, image courtesy of the Medmenham Collection

A long series of discussions between Professor Beaver of the University College of North Staffordshire (now Keele University) and the Air Ministry led to the transfer of 5.5 million ACIU photographs of Western Europe from RAF Medmenham to Keele University over a 14-month period in the early 1960s. The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives (TARA) was formed at Keele University and became the official place of deposit for declassified and released UK government aerial imagery.

A strip-lit room with white walls and a red floor. Floor-to-ceiling metal shelving occupies the left side, stuffed with hundreds of slim cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other. At the far end of the room is a stack of large grey plastic boxes.

The NCAP Collection in storage at Keele University, image courtesy Allan Williams

The UK Ministry of Defence declassified and released millions of additional images in 2004. These show places throughout the world dating from the Second World War and the Cold War. This imagery was accessioned into The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives as the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre (JARIC) collection; supplied without finding aids, it remains uncatalogued.

A grand red brick building with cupulas at each corner. A driveway leads from the photographer towards the building, flanked by frost-covered lawns scattered with fallen leaves. Trees are visible either side of the driveway, and behind the building.

Keele Hall at Keele University, image courtesy Allan Williams

In 2008, The Aerial Reconnaissance Archives was transferred into the care of Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and merged with the former archive of the Scottish Office APU. Following this, the merged archive was re-named The National Collection of Aerial Photography (NCAP). NCAP holds UK Government declassified and released aerial photography of places around the world. It is a centre of excellence in managing aerial photography and preserves the collections in its care.

Read more about our collections on our Image Collections pages.

Image Collection