Calls are being made for a permanent memorial to remember a group of Second World War pilots who risked their lives to obtain vital reconnaissance footage.

The move to remember the pilots and navigators of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit has been given the backing of local MP, Liz Saville Roberts.

The PRU had one of the lowest survival rates of the Second World War and a memorial in their honour will include the wreckage of a Mosquito from Aran Fawddwy in Meirionnydd.

The PRU operated highly dangerous, clandestine, photo-gathering operations, capturing over 26 million images of enemy operations and installations, which were then used in the planning of major operations such as the Dambusters Raid and D-Day.

Among those who served in the PRU and survived the war was Edward Gordon Bacon who grew up in Y Felinheli. He joined the RAF and served as a Pilot Officer with the PRU during the Second World War. He died in Dec 1986.

Due to the highly secretive nature of their operations, they flew solo, unarmed, and unarmoured. The death rate was nearly fifty percent and life expectancy for those who served in the PRU was around two and a half months.

The Spitfire AA810 project, launched in 2018, is dedicated to the memory of all the men of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and campaigns for a permanent memorial to recognise their sacrifice.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: “I’m proud to support a campaign for an official memorial to remember and honour the pilots of the RAF’s Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, being organised as we speak by the Spitfire AA810 Project.

“The Project is keen to reach out to families to collect their stories, so that their loved ones will once again be more than just a name carved on a war memorial.

“And talking of memorials, the Project is also campaigning for a UK memorial here in Westminster. When this comes to fruition, wreckage from a PRU aircraft will be its centrepiece.

'This poignant reminder of courage and horrendous risks faced by PRU airmen was collected just last month from a Mosquito aircraft which crashed on the Aran Fawddwy mountain in Meirionnydd 80 years ago.'

'The pilot Flight Officer Marek Ostaja-Slonski of the Polish Air Force and navigator Flight Lieutenant Paul Richs were killed at the site on a cross-country exercise.”

“Those serving in the PRU carried out some of the most daring intelligence-gathering operations of the war, suffering horrendous losses.'

'Yet, there remains no national memorial.”

Tony Hoskins, Project Lead at Spitfire AA8810 said: “For some 80 years the work of those who flew unarmed and defenceless aircraft further, higher, and faster than those that had pioneered aviation before them has been largely unrecognised.

“Their sacrifice was significant, and their contribution is long overdue recognition.'

“With our proposed monument being more than just names on a wall, we thank Liz for her support in collating the stories of these young men and women.”