The Lockheed 12 Electra Junior was an eight-seat, six passenger all-metal transport designed for use by smaller airlines and private owners. Developed as a scaled-down version of the Lockheed 10 Electra, the prototype made its first flight on June 27, 1936, piloted by Marshall Headle. British Airways Ltd. ordered two Electra Juniors in 1939. Although ostensibly acquired for civilian purposes, these aircraft were modified for aerial photography and used by Sidney Cotton to track Axis military activity on the eve of World War II. A modified Electra Junior was used by the NACA as a testbed for “hotwing” deicing technology. A total of 130 Electra Juniors were built.

Early in 1939 it was widely known throughout Europe that Adolf Hitler was preparing for war and that he no doubt would be joined by his crony Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy. In London, forty-one-year-old Frederick W. Winterbotham, chief of the Air Section of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), was especially concerned because there had been a sharp clampdown on information leaving the Third Reich. The few British agents planted there were terrified of discovery and rapid execution.

Even before the Nazis came to power in 1933, Winterbotham, a clever spymaster, spent much time in Germany with the mission of befriending the German leaders under the guise of being pro-Nazi to learn as much as possible about their plans.

In the years ahead, Winterbotham played his role so well that the Nazis accepted him as a true friend. He met with Hitler, Hermann Goering, Josef Goebbels, and numerous field marshals and generals. Many of them boastfully provided detailed information about the mighty war machine that was being built, mostly under a veil of secrecy.

Through his top-level connections, the British spymaster even learned which high French leaders were on the Nazi payroll, and he spent many nights entertaining Luftwaffe pilots and plying them with alcoholic drinks so he could subtly extract secret information from them. Toward the end of 1938 the Nazis made it known that Winterbotham was no longer welcome in Germany. No doubt they had begun to suspect his true motives in ingratiating himself with so many prominent German government and military leaders.

Although Winterbotham and his handful of agents had obtained much intelligence on the size and composition of the German Air Force during the past four years, much crucial data from within the Third Reich were still needed. This included any expansion of aircraft factories and the sites and capacity of new airfields and other military installations.

Winterbotham decided that this intelligence blackout would have to be penetrated by clandestine aerial photography, a field that the British had virtually ignored since the pioneer experiments in the Great War twenty years earlier. So he launched an intricate scheme to achieve that goal.

First, he prevailed on the Air Ministry to approve of his covertly acquiring a two-engined Lockheed executive-type airplane that was built in the United States. The craft had a heated cabin and could hold five persons, along with a pilot and a copilot. By European standards for civilian aircraft the Lockheed was far advanced.

It was arranged for the civilian British Imperial Airways to purchase and take delivery of the aircraft. Then the Air Ministry reimbursed the buyer. Winterbotham used his contacts with high British officials to “borrow” the latest cameras and equipment from a reluctant Royal Air Force.

After these photographic accoutrements were installed in the Lockheed, Winterbotham launched a search for a capable civilian pilot, one who would be patient enough to carry out experiments in high-altitude photography and sufficiently bold enough to fly over Germany to take pictures. He found just the man he wanted: Sydney Cotton, who had earned a reputation as an adventurous type.

Cotton had considerable knowledge of photography. Moreover, he already had cover. As an executive with a firm engaged in the development of color photography in England and Germany, he would be able to fly into the Third Reich without raising suspicion.

Although cameras had been greatly improved during the previous two decades, photos still had to be taken from only eight thousand feet, making it impossible to leisurely fly over Germany at this height in peacetime without being shot down by antiaircraft guns or Luftwaffe pilots.

Winterbotham and Cotton tried out the Lockheed at a height of twenty-two thousand feet, and after countless experiments, developed a procedure for taking clear photographs at that altitude. Ironically, Leica cameras purchased in Germany were used.

Before flying over the Third Reich, Winterbotham decided to make a lengthy test in the Mediterranean region, where Benito Mussolini was building defenses and military facilities. It was decided that a young Canadian would go along with Cotton as copilot.

Forged documents were made for Cotton in which he was portrayed as a wealthy movie tycoon making a survey of locations for a film. His copilot’s papers identified him as a movie director.

Cotton left England in April 1939 and, flying at twenty-two thousand feet, he photographed every Italian air facility and naval base on the North African coast and did the same thing along the northern Mediterranean Sea. It had been an intelligence bonanza.