Description
Object description
A large collection consisting of two bound albums and a quantity of loose prints which cover subjects relating to the career of Royal Air Force photographer Warrant Officer Arthur Charles Baldwin (ACB) in the RAF during the interwar, Second World War and post-war periods. A large proportion of this collection consists of aerial photographs showing various subjects including geographic, military and naval subjects. It is thought that these items may be training or technical development images. A large number of these images are duplicated and exist in the collection more than once.
Album One: Small leather bound album of loose leaves. Each leaf holds images depicting canoeing on river during overseas deployment, possibly the Tigris or Euphrates or within the Middle East more generally.
Album Two: various aerial views (oblique and vertical) of cities and geographic features in India and North West Frontier Province during the 1920-1930s. Mounted on paper and bound within a leather album.
Loose Prints -
Interwar Period: ACB's barrack room at RAF Hendon (1929), various domestic and tourist scenes of India (1929-1936); Scenes at RAF Hendon including pageants and several aerial views (oblique and vertical) of the airfield; various interwar aircraft at Hendon and other unidentified airfields, undertaking parachute training jumps from a Vickers Virginia and tethered balloons; aerial photographs (oblique and vertical) of locations and edifices in India such as the Vice-Regal Lodge and the Secretariat buildings in New Delhi, the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the city of Lahore, the Taj Mahal, the Diwah-I-Am Fort in Delhi. Also shows personnel and aircraft during a visit to RAF Risalpur in the North West Frontier Province by Sir Philip Sassoon, Under-Secretary of State for Air (1932); a group photograph of No 500 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force during summer camp at RAF Ford, Sussex (1938); copy prints of HM King Edward VIII's visit to RAF Northolt (1936); and aerial views (oblique and vertical) of city of Gilgit, west India (now Pakistan) and environs;
Second World War: studio-style head and shoulder portraits of unnamed WAAFs from the Operations Room at RAF Detling; a series of oblique aerial photographs of damage to German and French cities resulting from RAF bombing including Cologne, Koblenz, Duren, Julich, Aachen, Dunkirk, an unidentified Schloss, (c.1945/6); a class photograph of No 18 (War) NCO's Refresher Course, No 1 School of Photography, at Farnborough (April 1943); a series of aerial photographs (oblique) of merchant vessels including mined or bombed vessels in the English Channel such as Dutch liner SIMON BOLIVAR and the Italian merchant ships PONZANO and GRAZIA.
Post War: A series of images depicting Gloster Meteor F4s of No 245 Squadron RAF at RAF Horsham St Faith and a visit to the station by the Chief of the Air Staff (CoAS) Lord Tedder during the exercise Operation Dagger (02.09.48); a series of images of Gloster Meteor FR9s in flight (c.1947); various snapshots though mostly tourist views of the town of Murree during ACB's second tour of India (1945-1947); depictions of Air Officer Commanding (AOC)'s Parade including WO Baldwin being spoken to by Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Atcherley (1952); various views of Singapore; also scenes of Independence Day, in New Delhi, India (August 1947) featuring Lord Louis Mountbatten, Earl of Burma as outgoing Viceroy.
Ephemera: photographic reproductions of menus from RAF Risalpur, India, 1930-1932; newspaper clipping - undated.
Physical description
527 loose prints and 73 album mounted prints, all black and white. One small album with brown covers and gold leaf logo on the front. One dark brown leather album with black string binding, caption written beneath prints in white ink.