The Spitfire AA810 project, spearheaded by Plaid Cymru Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts, is campaigning for a memorial in London to honour the pilots and navigators of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU).

The PRU, which had one of the lowest survival rates in the Second World War, played a pivotal role in the victory, with their dangerous photo-gathering operations capturing more than 26 million images of enemy installations.

These photographs were crucial for planning major operations, including the Dambusters Raid and D-Day.

Despite their significant contribution, the PRU's efforts have largely gone unrecognised due to the secretive nature of their operations.

The unit flew solo, unarmed, and unarmoured, with a nearly 50 per cent death rate and a life expectancy of around two and a half months.

One of the survivors was Edward Gordon Bacon, who grew up in Bangor Street, Y Felinheli, and died in December 1986.

Ms Saville Roberts 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 PRU flew highly-dangerous missions to take intelligence photos.

"Their stripped-down planes were unarmed to carry as much fuel as possible.

"For this reason, they included conscientious objectors among their crews.

"The death rate was horrific, with almost 48 per cent losing their lives."

The Spitfire AA810 project was launched in 2018 to commemorate the men of the PRU and has been campaigning for a permanent memorial to recognise their sacrifice.

They wish to feature wreckage from a PRU aircraft as part of the memorial.

Ms Saville Roberts said: "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 eighty years ago."

She added: "I am honoured to support the Spitfire AA810 campaign to commemorate the men and women who served in the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and the invaluable role they played in dictating the course of the Second World War.

"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 to honour the sacrifice of the circa 800 pilots and navigators from the UK who flew these critical intelligence missions."

Tony Hoskins, project lead at Spitfire AA810, 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."

The project is keen to collect stories from families to ensure their loved ones are remembered beyond just a name carved on a war memorial.