The Defence School of Photography (DSoP) is a training centre for all photographers drawn from the three arms of the British Military and the Civil Service.

Despite Field Marshall Haig's reputed maxim that reconnaissance was best achieved by the Cavalry,[note 3][7] Laws and his cohort proved that aerial photography could provide information at a level of accuracy unseen before in theatres of war.

[9] They produced such detailed reconnaissance of Neuve Chapelle with its intricate hidden defences that when the attack took place, the eventual human toll was far less than that of previous similar campaigns.

130,000 would be gifted to the Imperial War Museum, whilst many others not considered important enough were simply buried in a hole in the ground at RAF Farnborough.

[13] During the early 1920s, T. E. Lawrence (under the alias John Hume Ross) was attached to the School of Photography whilst it was at Farnborough.

[15] It used Avro Anson aircraft in its aerial photography training and stayed for fifteen years at Wellesbourne Mountford before moving on to RAF Cosford in Shropshire on 26 August 1963[15][19] as part of No.

[15] A new building was designed and built specifically for photographic training at Cosford which is supposed to resemble a Rail Camera from the aerial perspective with Bellows as the front doors.

[20] Alec Brew in his book of photographs of RAF Cosford, describes the building opened in December 1965[21] as '...being a drab place enlivened by a marvellous mural.

[10] In 2015 the school celebrated its centenary with a special open weekend and formal dinner at the RAF Museum Cosford.

[25][26] Royal Navy and Army trainee professional photographers are drawn from existing strength within their respective services.