Powerful and moving aerial shots of the D-Day landings and of the Auschwitz concentration camp feature among one of the most remarkable photographic records of the Second World War, which is to have a permanent new home in Edinburgh.

The Aerial Reconnaissance Archive, comprising more than 10 million photographs, is being transferred to the Royal Commission of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) from Keele University, in an exercise that will take at least six months to complete.

“It is a stunning collection of photographs and negatives. The records of D-Day form one of the main areas of interest, but the imagery goes well beyond 1945. Immediately after the war, the Allies were the only ones flying and the archive includes an extraordinary record of postwar and Cold War Europe,” said Lesley Ferguson, the head of collections at RCAHMS.

Most of the archive - which is known as Tara - comes from the Allied Central Interpretation Unit, formerly based at Medmenham in Buckinghamshire, the headquarters of photographic intelligence during the war.

Shots of Auschwitz show inmates lined up in a square formation, as smoke rises from a building near by. For the British photographic experts who first saw these images, the pictures may not have seemed too sinister, according to retired Wing Commander Michael Mockford, who spent nearly 50 years in intelligence and imagery analysis.

“The details of Auschwitz would have had much in common with a labour camp or a prisoner-of-war camp. Steam rising from the ovens would probably have been seen initially at least as normal boiler house facilities in the cold climate of winter, supporting the heating and cooking facilities,” he said. It was only later that the full horror of the camp would be revealed.

Images of American troops landing at Omaha beach in Normandy on D-Day in June 1944 give “a poignancy” to the story, said Ian Daglish, who has written extensively about the Allied land campaign in Europe. At the time some of the photographs were taken, success was by no means certain.

“The Americans are desperately trying to get off the beach, they've suffered heavy losses and a number of boats are sinking,” he said.

Mr Daglish also highlighted historic photographs of the German battleship Bismarck, sheltering in a fjord near Bergen, which were taken by Flying Officer Michael Suckling, a reconnaissance pilot based at Wick in Northern Scotland.

“Bismarck had disappeared off the British radar and the Royal Navy were desperate to find her. Shortly after this photograph was taken, Bismarck embarked on her last sortie into the North Atlantic, where after several days of being chased by the Royal Navy, one ‘string bag' aircraft [a biplane] from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal managed to launch a torpedo that damaged Bismarck's rudder, so that she went in circles while the Royal Navy gathered around and eventually put an end to her,” he said.

For reconnaissance flights two 40lb cameras were usually sited just behind the pilot. He could alter the interval between exposures, according to his speed and altitude.

Kevin McLaren, the aerial photography curator for RCAHMS, said: “They were fairly frazzled by the end of their tours of duty. But they were flying well developed aircraft that were up to the job, so they were probably quite confident. Pilots were always told that they were not to be compromised.” But it was hazardous work and many pilots paid the ultimate price. Weeks after his images sealed Bismarck's fate Flying Officer Suckling was himself killed in action, on a mission over France.

The Tara collection also features images from the Suez crisis, the Korean war, and the Falklands campaign. New stores are being built in Edinburgh to house the archive, which will not immediately be available to the public. It is hoped that the collection will be put online for access to the general public.

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