The first direct reconnaissance images of Wales were taken on 1 July 1940 from Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft taking off from Jersey only hours after they had actually occupied the airport after the surrender off France.
The aircraft was a Do 17P from second Staffel of Fernaufklärungsgruppe 123 Der Adler mit dem Fernrohr,(The Eagle with the Telescope). This image is from that initial mission. The open fields of Mumbles are seen in the fine summer of 1940 with the open lands of the commons on the left side. The wreck of the SS Protesilaus can be seen on the sands at West Cross in the Bay.
Clyne Valley is still intensely wooded and the fields and gardens of western Swansea are still free from the urban density that we see today.
Nigel Robins 