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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Conventional Signs/Map Symbols


green_acorn

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I am about to start tracing the German military symbols from SS618, SS618a and a 1917 GHQ EEF Handbook on the Turkish Army and the 1908 German Field Service Regulations to create the historically correct symbols, as scalable vector graphics, in tables that Pals could use to help quickly interpret period maps, as well as correctly sized .BMP symbols that could be used with Linesman, or any other use that people may have.

What I don't have are the equivalent British, French and American symbols of the period. I do appreciate British symbols were often specific to maps/Army's and I have the TNA Atlas to copy them from, but I was hoping that there may be Pals out there who may have images of documents explaining them succinctly.

With time, I may build up this little project to include equivalent "modern" symbols from the 1960's to today, the aim being to help reduce confusion when one sees maps like the modern Turkish General Staff study of the Dardanelles in 1915.

Looking forward to any contributions/help.

Cheers,

Hendo

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Here're a few to begin with...

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David,

Thank you, I was looking at asking you for permission to tap images from your PathsofGlory site and was hoping you would post the French legend, which you have, as it was clipped of your French Trench Map CD I recently purchased.

Cheers,

Hendo

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...a few more... (and please feel free to use what you want of my website)...

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...I don't know how readable this is going to turn out on here, but here's a pretty comprehensive British table...

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This link to a downloadable version of an AEF book (1918) on German and French conventional signs may be of use?...Conv.Signs

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David,

Thank you, you have been exceptionally helpful, a fair bit of work ahead of me!

Now just need to find the US symbols and some of the other British symbols.

Cheers,

Hendo

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David,

Do you have the General Staff's April 1917 Conventional Signs sheet at higher resolution? I am having trouble reading the text (new glasses needed shortly!) and putting it through CorelDraw.

Would you or other forum members know of the "special secret signs" referred to on this sheet?

Cheers,

Hendo

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Hendo

What a can of worms you have opened! On some secret maps quite late in the war had their own additional signs showing dumps, airfields and the like, but whilst the signs were fairly standard triangles squares etc. they changed the meaning. ie An open triangle in one map might mean an ammo dump on one map, it might mean unknown dump in another. If you contact me direct I'll try and send you some examples.

Chris

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Chris,

No worries, I have just realised I have them, though not as a simple "key" to the legend, they are all on the Trench Atlas from N&MP disk.

Cheers,

Hendo

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Do you have the General Staff's April 1917 Conventional Signs sheet at higher resolution? I am having trouble reading the text (new glasses needed shortly!) and putting it through CorelDraw.

Sorry, I must have "lost" this thread. PM me with your email address and I'll send you it so big that you could print it off as a poster!!! :lol: (Actually, I won't because I don't think my email account will allow it!.... I'll send it at higher res though)

Dave.

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  • 5 years later...

Due to other commitments I hadn't got round to developing a "WW1 Map Symbol Key" yet. I would however like to start work on it and need to collect and incorporate the symbols used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian's. Does anyone know of any documents and publications which deal with those empires and other nations military symbols?

Cheers,

Hendo

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... I ... ... need to collect and incorporate the symbols used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian's....

Here's one from a KuK 1:25,000 scale trench map (oddly enough, none of my other Austrian trench maps have a key)... can't help with any Russian ones unfortunately.

Dave

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Dave,

You are a gem, thank you.

Trajan,

Thank you.

I hope someone interested in the Russian's has a copy of the symbols used and available to share.

Cheers,

Hendo

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