Bromley and Biggin Hill MP Peter Fortune has today backed a campaign to commemorate the brave pilots and navigators of the Photo Reconnaissance Units (PRU) during the Second World War, including two local heroes, Anthony Brown and Nigel Bottome.
The covert intelligence operations flown by PRU pilots and navigators were critical to the war effort but had one of the lowest life survival rates. Peter has joined calls for a national monument to commemorate their service. Over 1,700 pilots are thought to have flown the missions, including two Bromley residents, Brown and Bottome.
He also backs the Spitfire AA810 Project to restore the plane last flown by Alastair "Sandy" Gun as a living memorial, which crashed on a PRU mission over Norway. After the crash, Sandy was captured and sent to Stalag Luft III, where he helped dig the tunnel 'Harry' to escape the prisoner-of-war camp immortalised in the film 'The Great Escape' before he was sadly caught and executed on 6th April 1944 at the age of 24.
Peter laid a tribute in memory of Brown and Bottome at the poppy garden in Parliament, where every MP plants a poppy on behalf of their constituents in memory of all who served.
Peter said: "Photo reconnaissance was one of the riskiest operations during the war. Nearly half of the pilots who flew these missions lost their lives, flying planes stripped of armour and guns to carry cameras deep into enemy territory.
"The life expectancy of pilots in PRU was only two and a half months. But thanks to their bravery, over 26 million images of enemy operations and installations were taken. This intelligence was critical to defending our country's freedom and defeating the Nazi war machine, aiding critical operations from D-Day to the Dambusters Raid. However, there is no national memorial for these pilots.
"I'm supporting the Spitfire AA810 Project to memorialise these brave pilots, remembering the service of Bromley pilots Brown and Bottome, who flew these dangerous missions and survived the war.
If you are a relative of Brown or Bottome, please get in touch, as the Spitfire AA810 Project would like to learn more about their post-war lives as part of their work to commemorate these pilots.