In the Italian Campaign 208 Squadron was tasked with Tac/R which involved (1) low level oblique photography to enable the US/British armies to see the picture on the ground, and (2) locating and reporting targets of opportunity. and (3) directing the 'big guns' to targets up to a distance of 20 miles. (my late father never talked in detail about operations in WWII -- but he did once say that he could see the shells from the big guns as they passed under his MK IX Spitfire).
Of course the Germans were not stupid and as soon as they saw the Spitfires flying low overhead they targeted them with 88mm flak.
This is the Telegraph obituary, dated 28 Jan 2016, of one of 208 squadron's pilots and at the time, one of the two flight commanders, and who was shot down by flak over Monte Cassino in May 1944. it includes how he fought with the partisans before eventually reaching Allied lines. it reads like 'boys own stuff'.
Flight Lieutenant Eric Garland - obituary - Telegraph