HC Deb 10 April 1946 vol 421 cc1913-4
30. Mr. Keeling

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Air whether his attention has been drawn to the Royal Geographical Society's exhibition of R.A.F. photographs, demonstrating the wide application of air photography to civil and scientific uses; and whether he will arrange for the negatives and prints of photographs taken by the R.A.F. during the war to be preserved in good condition until those of value can be selected and placed in a national photographic library, such as that established in Canada

Mr. Ivor Thomas

My Noble Friend the Secretary of State for Air is grateful to the Royal Geographical Society for the exhibition which they recently held, and he hopes that the wartime developments in aerial photography will be widely extended in future. The R.A.F. wartime photographs are being preserved while the best arrangements for their future use are under review with all concerned.

Mr. Keeling

Will the hon. Gentleman give an assurance that these photographs will not be allowed to rot, like the furniture at Stansted?

Mr. Thomas

While not accepting the latter part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, I can give him an assurance that they will not be allowed to rot.