Intelligence Images: Eastern Front Perspective

In 1945, despite the orders for the Luftwaffe to destroy millions of aerial photos, the Allies discovered a staggering twenty tons of photos in eleven different locations. Among these findings was a stash of photos located in a Bavarian barn.

These photos, along with a large number of photographs taken by German soldiers for Intelligence analysis, were placed into classified Allied Intelligence files. This occurred at a time when imagery from the USAAF and RAF was being destroyed. The photos covered Iron Curtain countries and proved to be valuable for cartography and target intelligence during the Cold War.

The captured German imagery, referred to as GX, showcased what the German Army knew about the Soviet Union before and during Operation Barbarossa. Examples included landforms on the Eastern Front, as well as key cities such as Stalingrad, Moscow, Sevastopol, Leningrad, and various factories. Accompanying these photos are valuable comments from a skilled photo interpreter.

This extraordinary and varied collection, featuring photos taken from 28,000 feet overhead as well as those captured by soldiers on the ground, offers a never-before-seen glimpse into the war on the Eastern Front.

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