Plotting diagrams were prepared after every Allied air reconnaissance mission to record the approximate location of each numbered frame. The following diagrams relating to 106 Group air reconnaissance activity over Arnhem have survived in the UK archives, and a modern-day plot of 106G 2816 of 12 November is also included for comparison.
6 September 1944. This morning mission was flown just after Operation Comet was approved, and on the same day as the low-level missions that photographed the Arnhem, Nijmegen and Grave bridges. The mission comprises multiple straight sweeps across the Arnhem area from south-west to north-east, with no particular focus.
10 September 1944. An afternoon mission flown on the day that Operation Market Garden was conceived by Montgomery, Browning and Dempsey. The mission comprises a series of long north-south and south-north sweeps covering Arnhem, Nijmegen and the surrounding areas. Again, there is no obvious focus.
12 September: A modern-day plot of 106G/2816. The whereabouts of the original plotting diagrams for the imagery held in The Netherlands is not known. I have highlighted the early frames to illustrate how few photographs had been taken before the two frames in which the tanks were visible. While this mission was confined to the airborne objectives, it did not appear to have any other clear focus. Flight Lieutenant Fuge simply made a number of horizontal sweeps across the area of interest.
12 September 1944. The plotting diagram from the 544 Squadron Mosquito mission. The difference from the other diagrams could hardly be more pronounced and raises some intriguing but unanswerable questions. The primary aim was obviously to photograph Deelen airfield. However, the airfield had been well covered during the 10 September mission and by Fuge's mission earlier on the 12th, and it would be partly covered again by 541 Squadron on the 13th. The duplication of effort over this period may have reflected a lack of coordination or alignment within the Allied air reconnaissance tasking machinery or possibly an expectation that the Mosquito would provide more comprehensive coverage focused specifically on the airfield, with two different cameras. The Mosquito photographed Deelen during a transit from German objectives to other points of interest in more westerly areas of The Netherlands.
13 September 1944. This 541 Squadron mission differed from the squadron's earlier missions in that there were obvious areas of focus, as well as longer sweeps. One key focus was the Deelerwoud, which is hardly surprising given that tanks had been photographed there the day before. However, there was also a small cluster of frames to the south-east of Arnhem. Something of interest had presumably been reported in this area, but what?
16 September 1944. A 541 Squadron mission flown on the day before Market Garden was launched. The format had now largely reverted to straightforward sweeps in one direction or another, but the extension of coverage to the north-east is interesting. Obviously, it would have been necessary for the Allies to prepare themselves for river crossings in this area if Arnhem was successfully secured; but intelligence reports had also reached the Allies suggesting the presence of 2 SS Panzer Corps elements in this area.
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