beachedwhale1945 t1_jaezi9k wrote on February 28, 2023 at 11:19 PM

Reply to comment by enfiel in TIL Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby was drafted into the U.S. Army during WWII, landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy. When a lieutenant found out he was a comics artist, he made Kirby a scout who would advance into towns and draw reconnaissance maps and pictures, an extremely dangerous duty. by geekteam6

The reconnaissance plane then has to fly back to the UK, have the film unloaded from the rather bulky cameras, develop the film, turn it over to analysts, have the analysts create maps, get those maps across the English Channel by plane or boat, and get that map to the front lines. By which time the unit that wanted the map has already taken that bit of ground and moved on.

Kirby’s maps would be used within a day of their creation. If you want maps that fast of a particular tactical area, you use some guy on the ground, not aircraft. Photo-reconnaissance aircraft were used for grander strategic reconnaissance duties, including tracking German ships and factory outputs.