Historic England has made available a collection of aerial reconnaissance photographs taken during the Second World War by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). This is now accessible to the public online through the Historic England Archive.

For those interested in industrial archaeology and heritage the collection includes images of many significant industrial towns and cities such as Chelmsford, Derby, Gloucester, Nottingham, Oxford, Stockport, and Trafford Park and the adjacent port of Manchester.

The archive collection held by Historic England covers around 20,000 aerial photographs taken in 1943 and 1944. Over 3,600 photographs from the USAAF Collection have been made availble via an interactive map, with most photos concentrated in eastern and south-east England.

Follow this link to access the archive of aerial photographs: https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/photographs/usaaf-collection/