News & Articles

Find out about the latest news from NCAP and discover in-depth stories about NCAP collections, activities and projects.

A historic colour vertical aerial photo of an airfield. The main runway runs across the image from right to left, with a shorter runway crossing it at a diagonal towards the left-hand end. A white road runs parallel to and above the main runway. At the left-hand end of the road are 4 large hangars. A village is located in the top left-hand corner of the image, just above the hangars.

Anatomy Of: Airfields

In the latest of our 'Anatomy Of' series of articles, we look at the way aerial photography held by the National Collection of Aerial Photography reveals how military airfields are set up and operated, from houses to helicopters, using imagery of RAF Leuchars in Scotland.

Read more
A historic black and white vertical aerial photo of an airfield surrounded by fields. 3 camouflaged runways cross each other in the centre of the image. Several aircraft hangars at the bottom left, along with several aircraft.

East Fortune Airfield

East Fortune airfield in East Lothian is arguably the most historic surviving airfield of the First and Second World Wars anywhere in the United Kingdom. Its history can be traced in images held by the National Collection of Aerial Photography.

Read more

A historic black and white vertical aerial photo of a city on the coast. The city is situated on a large natural inlet. Along the left-hand shore of the inlet a large port is visible. The sea is at the top of the image, with several vessels visible on it.

Image Release Note 0040: NCAP Upload

This release highlights imagery of Oman from the JARIC collection, digitised as part of our agreement with Arcadia.

Read more
A historic black and white photo of 17 men and women un uniform, arranged in 3 rows in front of a brick building, with the first row seated.

The Development of Cold War Photographic Interpretation

From RAF Medmenham during the Second World War to the Cold War-era Joint School of Photographic Interpretation, photographic interpretation evolved significantly as an intelligence discipline. Today, the National Collection of...

Read more

Image Release Note 0039: NARA Upload

This release highlights Second World War imagery from NARA, with considerable coverage of Russia, as well as France, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and Croatia.

Read more
A historic black and white oblique aerial photo of a grassy headland, flanked on both sides by rocky cliffs dropping to the sea. To the left is a cylindrical stone beacon while in the centre of the image the letters '17 EIRE' are picked out in white on the grass.

ÉIRE Signs and the Marine and Coast Watching Service

Dotted around Ireland’s coastline, ÉIRE signs are one of the only remnants of many of the coastal watching service outposts established during the Second World War. Many signs have been...

Read more
A historic black and white oblique aerial photo of a parade of military vehicles along a building-lined, broad street. The street is lined with large crowds and passes over a river running from the top of the image to the bottom towards the right-hand side.

Image Release Note 0038: Irish Military Archives Upload

This release contains aerial reconnaissance imagery produced by the Irish Defence Forces from the 1940s to the 1970s, digitised and published in collaboration with the Irish Military Archives.

Read more
A historic sepia-coloured photo of a smiling man in uniform. He wears a beret and has an RAF wings badge on his left breast. He is standing in front of an aircraft.

Spitfire Overdue: F/O Mervyn Wheatley and Spitfire PR IB N3069

On 22 March 1940, an unarmed Photographic Reconnaissance pilot paid the ultimate sacrifice over the Netherlands when their specially modified RAF Spitfire was shot down. The legacy of the aircraft...

Read more
A historic black and white oblique aerial photo of a sailing ship with 3 masts moored off a wooded coast. Several large houses are visible between the trees on the shore.

Image Release Note 0037: RCAHMW & NCAP Upload

This release contains aerial reconnaissance imagery produced by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales from 1945-1999, digitised and published in collaboration with The Commission, as...

Read more
A historic black and white vertical aerial image of a large aircraft carrier, its deck covered with aircraft. Several other vessels are visible on the sea around the aircraft carrier. Docks and a port are visible on the edge of a small portion of land at the top edge of the image.

What is a Cold War Object?

At the end of May, Rachel Nordstrom (Operations Manager) and Ben Reiss (Collections Manager) represented the National Collection of Aerial Photography at the What is a Cold War Object? symposium...

Read more