Quote:
Originally Posted by twocee
As the War progressed carrier aircraft, particularly the photo F6Fs, were used to obtain preliminary coverage for planning future invasions. For example, in February 1944 two Task Groups struck the Marianas, partly with a view to obtaining up to date photographs of the defences. Similarly, at the beginning of March 1945 Okinawa and the other Ryukyus were hit and photographic coverage obtained. By that time each Carrier Air Group had a number of pilots specially trained in photo reconnaissance..
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Speaking of this, the VF-18 War History mentions that in late September the squadron's photo pilots were tasked with obtaining as complete photographic coverage of Leyte as possible, and that "It is believed photographs they made were used by McArthur [sic] for the landing on Leyte."
Is it even possible to verify this? Is there documentation concerning which specific photographs were used by MacArthur et al. in determining the particulars of the landing?
Cheers.