Sub-sub-fonds - 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group

Part of the United States Army Air Force 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force.
Activated 1 May 1943. Assigned to Eighth Air Force, 7 July 1943. Inactivated, 21 November 1945. The Group obtained information about targets prior to missions and collected evidence of damage inflicted by bombing. It also provided a mapping service, collected data on weather conditions and observed and reported on enemy positions, installations and transport networks.
Outline:
The 7th Photographic Group was also known variously as the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group and 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group and the 7th Reconnaissance Group. It was activated on 1 May 1943 and assigned to the Eighth Air Force (8th Air Force) on 7 July 1943. The Group was deactivated in England on 21 November 1945.
Key responsibilities and campaigns:
The Group obtained information about targets prior to missions and collected evidence of damage inflicted by bombing. It was also provided a mapping service, collected data on weather conditions and observed and reported on enemy positions, installations and transport networks.
In addition to playing a key role in the Normandy campaign, June 1944, the Group carried out reconnaissance work on missile installations in France later in the year and photographic mapping for troops advancing across France. They also provided reconnaissance support during the airborne invasion of Holland (Netherlands) and the Battle of the Buldge, December 1944-January 1945.
Awards:
Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations during the Normandy campaign, June 1944.
Stations:
Mount Farm, Oxfordshire, England.
Chalgrove, Oxfordshire, England, March-October 1945.
Hitcham, England, 21 October-November 1945.