United States. Air Force. Photographic Reconnaissance - Smoky the brave: how a feisty Yorkshire terrier mascot became a comrade-in-arms during World War II

They shall grow not old, as we who are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon

Photo Joe

Now, Photo Joe is an altitude fiend.

He flies way up high where he cant be seen.

He flies at thirty thousand in his P-three-eight,

Getting drunk on oxygen at a rapid rate.

He tells all the bombers of every hot spot.

He flies over places where the fighters will not.

The bombers have top-cover and the fighters have a gun,

But all Photo Joe can ever do is run.

Theres a little more to this sad, sad story:

The bombers do the work and the fighters get the glory.

And heres another thing that you ought to know

There arent any medals for a Photo Joe!

Anon

The time served by Allied servicemen and women during the Second World War was often traumatic. Memories tend to differ and apparently none more so than those concerning operations flown deep behind enemy lines. The written accounts that do exist of such missions tend to vary in their detail and timing, and locations and chronologies can prove contradictory. That being said, I have done my best to provide a proper sense of place, timescale and narrative to the story as depicted in these pages.

Where various accounts of a mission appear to be somewhat confused, the methodology I have used to determine when and how events took place is the most likely scenario. If two or more testimonies or sources point to a particular time or place or sequence of events, I have opted to use that version as most likely. Where necessary I have very occasionally re-created small sections of dialogue to aid the storys flow.

The above notwithstanding, any mistakes herein are entirely of my own making, and I would be happy to correct them in future editions. Likewise, while I have endeavoured to locate the copyright holders of the photos, sketches and other images and material used in this book, this has not always been straight-forward or easy. Again, I would be happy to correct any errors in future editions.

Of particular use during the writing of this book were the 5th Air Force, 26th Photo Reconnaissance Squadrons own accounts of the war years. These include the Flight Reports, Intelligence Reports and other official squadron records held at Maxwell Air Force Base, in Alabama, USA. The 26th being a photo reconnaissance squadron, the photo archive held at Maxwell AFB also proved particularly useful. So too did the 26th Photo Reconnaissance Squadrons own war diary, entitled simply Squadron HistoryTwenty-Sixth Photographic Squadron (L). Likewise, the squadrons more informal photographic and written legend of the war years, entitled 26th Photo, and published by 26th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, proved hugely insightful.