Joint Service Recognition Journal

[CoffmanStarter]

Sadly the UK JSRJ (aka UK DRJ) is no more ... the final publication was in 2009.

For those that need a gentle reminder ... here is the Front Cover of the 'Christmas' Dec 1974 Issue.



Image Credit : UK MOD

Full of material to help you know your Fishbed from your Flanker and your Fagot from your Fencer ... not forgetting helping you know your Badger from your Bison

Not just aircraft though ... Soviet Naval Ships and Submarines ... along with all-sorts of Ground Based weaponry.

Then I came across this on Wikipedia ... I hadn't appreciated just how long this publication had been going

So I thought other Members might be interested ...

Aircraft Recognition (magazine) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The above article mainly covers the operational use of the journal during WWII ... It would be interesting to hear how it was used during the 50's, 60's, 70's up until it's demise. I assume AD, GA and MP Crews would have been the main User Community ?

Coff.

[air pig]

After reading the books on BRIXMIS, i now appreciate where some of the pictures came from.

[BEagle]

And here's where it all started:

Vol 1 No.1 of Aircraft Recognition - The Inter-Services Journal dated September 1942. 2 copies of which came my way about 30 years ago when the RAF Brize Norton Education Section was having a clear-out. I've still got one copy, the other is on indefinite loan to the Yorkshire Air Museum.

[CoffmanStarter]

Thanks for sharing BEagle

[Courtney Mil]

It really was an excellent publication.

[MAINJAFAD]

Coff

Covered a whole lot more than Aircrew related identification matters, thus the reason it could be found in the crewrooms of most military establishments. Seeing that they provided the bulk of airfield defence inside the perimeter fence and I've seen most of the guys in the crew room have a look at it at one time or an other during the cold war period exercise seeing that one of the perimeter sagger guards roles was report all aircraft movements to the ground defence control (Though it would have helped if the dim WRAF at the other end of the field phone in the GDC had read it and thus would have known that a Hercules isn't a Helicopter and vice versa, saw that happen twice ). Most ATC Squadrons got a copy, very useful for the aircraft recognition competition. Most likely canned for cost reasons and replaced with theater specific publications.

[glad rag]

I can remember spending hour going through these as a spacer [shutit] it was one of those publications that fired the cadets imaginations....

[CoffmanStarter]

I'm sad to say that I was responsible for a Crew Room clear out (at the request of the Boss) many years ago ... which resulted in a large number of these presious journals going over to the Fire Dump for destruction

Standard Crew Room reading material along with Air Clues and Flight Safety Review ...

Some of those pictures just made you wonder how they were obtained ...

Example : The Yak-38/Forger ... some of those pics I seem to remember appeared to have been taken 'on deck'.

[Pontius Navigator]

Some pictures came from the Sovs themselves.

Huge satellite dishes on a facility near Ashford would record the TV programme I Serve the Soviet Union. The inside view of a Moss came from that source.

[nutnurse]

In the 60s it was to be found in Ops Centres and Flight Planning Sections, as well as but to a lesser extent Towers and ATCCs. I spent many a happy Sunday afternoon on watch at Bruggen, Leuchars and Prestwick, learning how to distinguish between a ferry and a liner (count the lifeboats), or wondering about the exposed nature of the fuel tanks on Soviet tanks, after ringing the Met. Office to tell them it was raining had palled. Those who have copies should consider themselves to be lucky bunnies indeed, especially as it was the same age I am although I intend to go on for some time yet...

Of course, the locations I've mentioned had different interests: armoured ground formations at Bruggen, Bear-like intruders down the ADIZ at Leuchars, and stray Aeroflot airliners with reconnaissance cameras slung underneath at Prestwick, to mention but a few without over-exciting the MOD mods.

[nutnurse]

Don't forget the 1950s TV announcements: "We apologise for the poor reception this evening which has been caused by 3 Gp playing silly buggers, what? erm, I mean sun spots".

[Rosevidney1]

In the 1970s I was responsible for AAC recognition training and was detailed by the Brigadier to write a booklet that he suggested might be called the 'Hot Hundred' of Soviet and allied air and battlefield equipment. Some details came from JARIC Brampton but the majority of photographs came from Bruce Robertson who was the editor of Recognition Journal. I visited his office in London and was surprised at how small it was. Large 8 x 10" glossy photographs stacked floor to ceiling left barely enough room for his desk. In spite of that he couldn't have been more helpful. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that PPRuNe members of a certain age will have some reference books written by him as he was a prolific author.

[54Phan]

I have several of Mr Robertson's books in the 54Phan library.

[Whenurhappy]

And the Recognition Journal wasn't only in Britain - it made its way out to the Loyal Antipodes - they were at our ATC Squadron and - along with Air Clues - were scattered around all the crew rooms in the RNZAF.

[ValMORNA]

One of my many 'hats' in FTC in the 50's was Aircraft Recognition Instructor at M-S-G where we used the epidiascope to flash pictures on the screen, and one day I said that we'd try a 'quick flash', possibly 5th of a second. 'No chance' was the reply. The students were used to aircraft of the day, some gleaned from the JSRJ, but the first one up was a picture of a half-naked starlet. No problem in recognition there, which proved a point. Know your subject.

[BEagle]

Of course there were other subjects than aeroplanes featured. Here's the Recce Journal from 60 years ago:

H.M.S. Vanguard, in case you're wondering!

Civvie aircraft were also featured, such as this de Havilland Comet from September 1949:

But this was the sort of thing which encouraged air-minded small boys like me to want to join the RAF:

I think they're 43 Sqn Hunter F1s, eh Courtney?

[CoffmanStarter]

BEagle ... Thanks again for sharing

Do you have a complete set ? Even if you don't ... you are a very luck Chap to have some of those early copies in your personal library.

[ian16th]

"We apologise for the poor reception this evening which has been caused by 3 Gp playing silly buggers, what? erm, I mean sun spots".

Would that have been when Holme Moss and Gee-H were 'competing for spectrum'?

I remember circa 1955, at BCBS RAF Lindholme, we eventually changed the Tx frequency on all of the Lincolns and Varsity's. It also involved a change of the dipole aerial, on the Lincolns this was problematic as some of them were rusted in place.

[HAS59]

Photo Interpreters too

We used to love reading through this monthly and trying to spot the mistakes. This was after Mr Robertson's time there of course. These were nearly always caused by the printers substituting a photo at the last minute and getting it wrong.

These were an excellent source of information for me since a lad in the ATC (yes me too) reading with horror the number of allied aircraft shot down by friendly fighters AAA etc! I must have read and used most of them over the years.

Even though it was sold to friendly nations, along with Air Clues the end came for a number of financial reasons but the need for it still remains.

Another very interesting read was the Dutch publication 'Heerkening' (recognition). I have the final copy of this (even better recce journal). However when the Dutch stopped printing their magazine they continued with an on-line journal for their services.

Now why didn't we do the same?

[Party Animal]

Now why didn't we do the same?

Because our leadership is more focussed on 'transformation' and producing 'deliverable outputs' and 'defining overarching variables that can be measured against matrix targets'.

Which means time and effort is no longer spent on producing really useful training material that turned those of us who studied recce journals into more professional and capable operators.

Once upon a time, the contents of the Recce Journal would be cut and pasted onto the inside of toilet cubicle doors (well that was one way to learn useful facts). Nowadays, you are more likely to see propaganda on the need to set business targets and how to make even more energy efficiency savings. Plus the usual Elf N Safety b*ll*cks warning you not to put your head in the toilet bowl etc...