Book excerpt: — Lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs — Using firsthand accounts and original documentation, the author explains the fundamental role of the PR Spitfire over Europe — Research was carried out at the National Archives and much detail was gleaned from many individuals involved in PR operations — From the pilot who first flew Spitfire PL972 on 20 February 1945, the reader is taken on a journey through the aircraft’s complete life On the morning of 24 December 1943, No. 542 Squadron’s intelligence officer briefed photographic-reconnaissance pilot James Elwyn Storey on covering ‘crossbow’ sites in the Calais-Abbeville area. He was airborne at 11 a.m. and set course in Spitfire PR XI for the French coast, passing over London at 15,000 feet. The weather was perfect over the English Channel and Storey flew to Dunkirk and set course for Abbeville. Fifty miles before reaching the objective, he was targeted by an accurate German anti-aircraft battery, and he occasionally rolled the Spitfire on her side to check beneath him.