Backing the Campaign to Commemorate Stockport’s WWII Heroes
I am proud to support the campaign to commemorate the brave pilots and navigators of the Photographic Reconnaissance Units (PRU) during the Second World War. This campaign was launched as part of the Spitfire AA810 Project in 2018.
We know that there were six airmen from Stockport in the PRU. They served under exceptionally difficult conditions, and several sadly gave their lives while flying unarmed aircraft.
The PRU was formed on the 24th of September 1939 and throughout the Second World War operated highly dangerous, clandestine photographic reconnaissance operations over all theatres of operation, and captured more than 26 million images of enemy operations and installations during the war.
The purpose of the PRU was to provide up-to-date intelligence to inform the strategic planning of the Allied powers during the war. Flying Spitfires and Mosquitos, the intelligence gathered by the PRU was used by all branches of the armed forces, giving same day intelligence on enemy activity.
The intelligence provided by the PRU was used in the Cabinet War Rooms – now the ‘Churchill War Rooms’ located underneath the Treasury – and was instrumental in the planning of major operations; D-Day and the Dambusters Raid, the monitoring of major shipping movements such as the Bismarck and Tirpitz, and the locating of the site of the V1 and V2 rocket launching site at Peenemünde.
The PRU had one of the lowest survival rates of any aerial unit during the war. Life expectancy in the PRU was only two and a half months. Despite this, there is no national memorial to the PRU. The Spitfire AA810 Project has led the campaign to establish such a memorial to the PRU pilots and navigators.
Amongst those who served in the PRU were Stockport residents; Cyril Butterworth, Cecil Chadwick, Geoffrey Goodman, Clive Knowles, Herbert Leech, and Wilfred Nelson.
W/o Cyril Butterworth was from Heaton Mersey, Stockport. He served in the PRU with 680 Squadron, although little else is known about his service, or if he survived the war.
F/Lt Cecil Gordon Chadwick DFC and F/Lt Clive Edward Knowles DFC, both from Stockport, flew in 140 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. Both are understood to have survived the war. It is unclear what they did afterwards.
W/Cdr Geoffrey George Goodman CBE lied about his age in order to join the RAF, flying Reconnaissance Mosquito aircraft. He survived the war and went on to become a well-known journalist, broadcaster and writer.
Very little is currently known about the life and service of F/o Herbert Clive Louis Leech. It is believed that he survived the war.
P/o Wilfred Nelson DFC did not survive the war. His unarmed Mosquito aircraft was shot down on 28th March 1943 during operations over Norway with 540 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. He is buried in Norway.
I look forward to working with the Spitfire AA810 Project to establish this memorial and to paying my respects there once it is completed.
If you were related to or knew Cyril Butterworth, Cecil Chadwick, Geoffrey Goodman, Clive Knowles, Herbert Leech, or Wilfred Nelson, or anyone else who served in the PRU during the war, please go to the Spitfire AA810 Project website (www.spitfireaa810.co.uk), or get in touch with Tony Hoskins, Tony@spitfireaa810.co.uk.
