COLLECTIONS Photographic Collection
BSA SPHS Image Collection
Early Civilisation in Northern Greece
Thessaly Excavation Records A.J.B. Wace Papers: Pembroke College Cambridge A.J.B. Wace Papers: Cambridge Classics Archive
Byzantine Research Fund
Excavation Records
Kynosarges Excavation Records Mycenae Excavation Records Thessaly Excavation Records
Knossos Research Centre
Archaeological Survey of the Knossos Area
Fitch Laboratory
Botanical
Library Collections
Map Collection Aerial Photograph Collection Rare Books
Personal Papers
John Pendlebury Family Papers George Finlay Papers William Gell Personal Papers Keppel Craven Personal Papers William Flinders Petrie Personal Papers Emily Penrose Personal Papers

Aerial Photograph Collection

During WWII Allied Forces carried out extensive photographic reconnaissance missions in the Mediterranean region, making use of aerial photographs to draw maps, control enemy positions and chart anti-aircraft artillery. In 1945 the collection of photographs were slated to be destroyed, but thanks to the intervention of the Director of the Allied Monuments and Fine Arts Commission in Italy (John Ward-Perkins) the photographs were saved. As an archaeologist, Ward-Perkins recognised the potential research value of this material and subsequently divided it among the cultural institutions of the allied countries, namely the British School at Rome, the American Academy in Rome, the École Française de Rome and the British School at Athens. The British School at Athens received the photographs covering Greece taken by the British Royal Air Force (RAF), the United States Air Force (USAAF), and the South African Air Force (SAAF). In the early 1950s this collection of aerial photographs was indexed and in 2026-2017 the Friends of the British School at Athens funded a project to create a digital resource. The resulting digital map showing the locations of the aerial photographs can be found at: https://www.bsa.ac.uk/wp-content/RAF/Aerial-map.php

Please note that for security reasons photographs cannot be previewed on-line. Use this on-line catalogue to search the photographs for general localities and individual flight paths.