Heads up Google Earth has 1945 views!

Got it. Thanks. I must use the scroll bars more often. 😀

Tony.

Tony at BH
Scroll down the page you will see some boxed photos on the right hand side click them to view the picture or you can click the page numbers.
Ian

No, reference is made in one or two posts about the agencies that own the historical photos, they can be contacted and copies brought. I do realise though that it isn’t the same as being able to ‘hover about’ and roll back to various years.
GE is one hell of a resource though, who would have believed that we can do this a few years back. Give it time and I’m sure it will get much more comprehensive.

Are you talking about Wellington’s link to ‘Google Earth Hacks’? that just seems to be links to shops and ebay. Where do we go when we get to that site?

The original image resolution will be very high, but I’m guessing that this is a gargantuan effort by Google so the res will be knocked down a bit.
If you read back through the thread you will see how to obtain copies of the original pics and different date pictures, not quite the same thing I know.

I’m not finding the resolution as good as the uo to date images (as you’d expect I suppose). Be interesting to see the village layout though.

I ‘want’ that square filled in. That’s where I live. 😀

Me too!

I live down in the valley – I’m keen to see what was where my house is now as there are some remains of it still in the back garden.

I need the square with Biggin Hill 1945 filled in – it’s missing completely when I view it.

I ‘want’ that square filled in. That’s where I live. 😀

I don’t think we’ll see anything of the airfield when it’s there though.

Podington airfield is completely missing in the 1945 view, just fields where the base should be, but the shape of the trees surrounding it are correct, same as they are today, just no airfield.

I need the square with Biggin Hill 1945 filled in – it’s missing completely when I view it.

It all depends on the original photo source, those from mid ’40s from OS have either a pre-airfield image pasted over the airfield area or the area adjusted by paintbrush (censor of the time), those from the early ’50s do show the airfields.

These are airfields that I found show up well in the 1940s images after an hours looking about,

Bentwaters
Brooklands
Calveley
Cardiff
Conington
Cowes SARO slipways
Croughton
Croydon
Depden
Duxford very edge of
Elstree
Eye
Flixton
Great Ashfield
Great Staughton
Halesworth
Heathrow
Hendon
Heston
Honington
Hooton Park
Horham
Kimbolton
Knettishall
Lakenheath under const
Langley
Leiston
Mendlesham edge of
Metfield
Mildenhall
Molesworth
Newcastle
Northolt very edge of
Oakington
Pengham Moor
Pershore
Poulton
Rattlesden edge of, under const
Ringway edge of
Rougham under const
Sealand
Shepards Grove
Silverstone
Snitterfield
Speke very edge of
Stradishall
Stretton
Tuddenham
Warboys
Waterbeach
Wattisham
Wisley
Wratting Common
Wyton

There will be much more!

Had been looking for local airfields on the 1945 google earth, was suprised that many are not shown, were some the aerial photo’s pre war The aircraft at RAF Northolt could they be Dakotas
Ian

Looking at Biggin Hill in the 1945 (?) photos on Google Earth there seems to be absolutely nothing at Biggin Hill airfield. Where are the married quarters? Where is the officer’s mess? Where is the runway? RAF buildings? Etc. etc. etc.

Could this be because they ‘touched’ the photos up to hide the fact that it existed?

Tony

(No problem Moggy)

It still lies! Heathrow was still fields in 1945, I would say this is early 1950s .

Interesting you should say that. When I was looking last night I thought Heathrow was a bit ‘over developed’ for 1945.

I’d say early 50s as my house was built 1955 and in these pics they have started my street.

Part of Duxford just appears and has the runway closed and marked with an X. Does that help date it?

Anyone know what the 3 aircraft on the south side of RAF Northolt are?

Google now have Dec 1945 of the whole London area. Well, nearly. My bit of Biggin Hill is still covered.

It still lies! Heathrow was still fields in 1945, I would say this is early 1950s after its first major development.
Very interesting though (especialy comparing then and now), and is that Hawkers Langley airfield just to the north west of Heathrow?
Croydon, Wisely, and Hendon also appear.

Google now have Dec 1945 of the whole London area. Well, nearly. My bit of Biggin Hill is still covered.

English Heritage hold all of the Old RAF aerial photo’s from 1945 onwards

The Welsh Assembly Government hold the RAF airfields of Wales series in their archives, including the incredible St Athan, Llandow and the linking taxiway with hundreds of aircraft seen ready for scrapping.

Found this site with approx 891 wartime overlayed photos.
Ian
http://www.gearthhacks.com/dlcatn82/War-Related-Overlays.htm

That is an amazing resource, some really great ideas there such as the well known stricken Halifax picture overlayed on to the current scenery.

Pretty amazing to see how much the airfields have changed over the years! Not all the country is scanned but some areas like Wratting Common have aerial views from the wartime to present. Just click onto the clock icon on google earth and travel back in time!

Wratting Common – that’s my local disused aerodrome, the T2 has just been greatly enlarged as a grain store!

I think the whole country was mapped from the air after the war, it’s a case of contacting English Heritage to see what they have got, certain sensitive area’s may have been censored of course.

Ant.

English Heritage hold all of the Old RAF aerial photo’s from 1945 onwards, you can order them (for a fee ) and they will send you a copy on disc, if anyone is interested?

Fascinating look at my local area in 1941-45. But my house is in a blacked out area, Does that mean they have no picture of that section of land :confused: