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Remembered Today:

Gazetteer of the Western Front


johnreed

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After a mammoth task which has taken nearly 18 months of poring over Trench Maps, I have finally completed the Gazetteer of The Western Front, It features Farms, Villages, Towns, Cities and Prominent Features but not Trenches, it has 5 columns. Column 1: Location Name. Column 2: Map Sheet. Column 3: Sheet Name. Coumn 4: Position in Latitude and Longtitude. Column 5: Map Square. I decided to include the Lat and Long for the people with Satellite Navigation Systems. It runs to 140 pages with 60 entries per page. I hope the publication house which has declared an interest will publish it.

John

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I decided to include the Lat and Long for the people with Satellite Navigation Systems.

It might seem a very,very small niggle after all your hard work but how did you obtain the Lat and Long? What geoid did you use? WGS84?

If you're publishing Lat and Long co-ords, you'll need to include the geoid used otherwise people could find your co-ords "out" by as much as 200 metres if their Sat Nav/GPSr is set differently.

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I used Memory Maps and WGS84.

John

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Well done John - I wish you well in getting publication, not easy times at the moment.

Jim

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A mammoth task indeed, John. Congratulations. I hope your hard work is rewarded by publication. You have put together an important resource there, I think.

Tom

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Remember to telll us where and when it will be available -well done that man!

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Congratulations on your achievement in getting the gazetteer completed.

I look forward to buying a copy in due course.

Regards,

AGWR

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I've had the privilege of seeing some early versions of John's work. Am pleased to read that it is complete - looking forward to it, as it will be a very useful research tool.

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The only reason I mentioned the geoid was that I undertook a similar project not that long ago on a much reduced scale (and with no intention of being published). I asked a friend to double check some of my co-ords and we found every single one of them to be "out". Then I checked his geoid and found he had set the Irish Grid 1965 datum (IG65) instead of WGS84 - d'oh.

Well done for having the patience and dedication to complete such a task. There's no emoticon for a round of applause, so this is the best I could do - B):)

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  • 3 years later...

After a mammoth task which has taken nearly 18 months of poring over Trench Maps, I have finally completed the Gazetteer of The Western Front, It features Farms, Villages, Towns, Cities and Prominent Features but not Trenches, it has 5 columns. Column 1: Location Name. Column 2: Map Sheet. Column 3: Sheet Name. Coumn 4: Position in Latitude and Longtitude. Column 5: Map Square. I decided to include the Lat and Long for the people with Satellite Navigation Systems. It runs to 140 pages with 60 entries per page. I hope the publication house which has declared an interest will publish it.

John, is your gazetteer available?

Also, is there any searchable database of trench names?

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After a lot of amendments and rewriting it now runs to 241 pages and it has today been sent off to a publishing house, cross you fingers.

John

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Looking froward to seeing it in print john.....well done.

regards

Tom

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm afraid that the Gazetteer has been rejected for publication this is what has been said: "I have given your Gazetteer proposal a lot of thought and consulted two respected authorities.

Let me start by saying that we are all agreed that it is a great achievement to have listed so many locations as you have. We see authors, guides and historians finding it a very useful reference guide. However we doubt that there would be enough potential purchasers to make it commercially viable. Our thought is that you should get this information onto a website which interested parties could access. Possibly you could charge a fee - or not - for this?

Certainly your work/research should not be wasted as it is of considerable value in this digital/GPS age. More and more people are visiting the Battlefields.

I realise that this will not be answer you want but I hope it is encouraging and positive nonetheless.

John

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Its a pity as interest will undoubtedly increase over the next few years.

Our thought is that you should get this information onto a website which interested parties could access. Possibly you could charge a fee - or not - for this?

Certainly your work/research should not be wasted as it is of considerable value in this digital/GPS age. More and more people are visiting the Battlefields.

That's not a bad idea - set up a site with a small subscription fee and/or sell your book as an ebook (either as pdf or through amazon) or on DVD.

http://blogkindle.com/2010/11/how-to-publish-a-kindle-ebook/

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If any there are any interested parties contact me off Forum at johnareed60@hotmail.com

John

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As Paul Reed mentions, I also received input during the early stages and I must say: I now have a full copy plus more which lives in my tour vehicle for immediate use whenever required. It is an excellent reference tool and for those who regularly tour/work on the battlefields it is invaluable!

After digesting the above comments I also now feel that the creation of a dedicated website, sales via ebay, amazon etc may be worth a second look!

Best of luck John

Chris

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John

It might also be worth looking at self-publishing. There are a few companies around that would host your work as an e-book.

Keith

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John,

Will you make it available on Bay to us colonials? Could I also suggest tying in with Smithmaps, your Gazetteer as a searchable database, and his Linesman together would be a natural and truly open up the potential of both.

Cheers,

Hendo

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Hendo,

I hope John makes lots of sales in rich reward for his efforts.

If you cannot source a UK ebay listing, why not try https://drive.google.com/?tab=wo&authuser=0#folders/0Bwmm1uUbZRCpdXZwR1hqcTVKNFU. It covers France and Flanders, is free and contains thousands of entries, including a direct hyperlink to the place on Google Maps. Available in Excel (sort however you want) or in PDF.

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  • 4 months later...

It has been confirmed that the Gazetteer is to be published, I am just putting the finishing a few amendments the publishers require, it will be off to them at the begining of next week.

John.

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