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As a Wartime occupation PR stood for Photographic Reconnaissance. Public Relations had not been officially invented, but existed just the same. Sometimes the initials could represent both. A classic example occurred in October 1944 when “Bomber Harris” decided to ‘sink’ a Dutch island by breaching the dykes with bombs, thus inconveniencing the remaining occupation forces.

There followed a mid- morning request from Bomber Command for low-level pictures to illustrate the success of the operation. By this time the photographic engineers had perfected a camera device which took forward-facing prints every four seconds. Simple: just point the Spitfire at the target and press a button.

October 4th was a cold showery day but with good visibility. No problems: the Dutch island looked pretty wet, but there was no sign of dramatic flooding. Back home there was another message. Could the pilot please go to London, visit ��ѿ��ý, and record experience and success of bombing operation for the 9pm War News report. The pilot of course was very pleased. Free trip to Town, stay in West End Hotel at H.M.G. expense and rewarded with £5 note by ��ѿ��ý.

All this would indicate, that even in 1944, PR could mean different things at the same time.

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