craig edgar Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 Wondering if anyone can please help me? I'm trying to pinpoint the whereabouts of the 106th Brigade of the RFA at certain points during the war. I have purchased the battalion war diary but cannot decipher the map references. I've tried using the Great War British Trench Map Coordinates Converter but every time I put a coordinate in I end up in the middle of the ocean close to Congo!?!. I'm wondering if I need to miss something out or add something in when using the coordinates? I've attached a section of the diary, if anyone could help me with the coordinates I'd much appreciate it. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 Can you give one of the map references you are looking for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig edgar Posted 3 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 3 April , 2015 Sure, G.24.c.1.4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 I am not sure but you might have to put the sheet number in front of the reference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig edgar Posted 3 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 3 April , 2015 Yes that makes sense, just checked a couple of the coordinates and it looks correct according to what the war diary says. Thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 Craig Since Johnboy sent me the link I have also ended up in the Atlantic off Guinea. Without a map sheet number I have found that if you click and drag to the area where you want to be then double click on a feature it will give you co ordinates. Once you have that, which will show the map number, you can put in the coordinates from the WD. There is a mention in the WD to the BAVAY road. I dragged the map north and east to Bavay and double clicked on the road to the east of Bavay. It came up with coordinates 51.i.29b.7.1 so I altered 29b.7.1 to 24c.1.4 and it zoomed into a position just north west of La Longueville. I also put in 51.a.24c.1.4 (mention of map 51A in WD) and it zooms to a spot just north of Roisin. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 So if you have the sheet number can you use it with the other coordinates and get to exactly where you need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 If the co-ordinates you enter are in the wrong format, it returns an error, and defaults to 0 Deg N, 0 Deg E, ie in the Gulf of Guinea. The format must be Number.letter.number.letter.number.number To avoid confusion, separate all items with a full stop e.g. 51.i.29.b.70.10 Six items, separated by 5 full stops , don't put a full stop on the end ! Make sure you don't mix your "I" and "1" or your "O" and "0" To get a co-ordinate to 5 yards accuracy, you need to enter 6 items of data as above. These bits of information represent: 51 = Sheet number, without this, the subsequent co-ordinates could represent a point on any of the numbered sheet maps http://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/ww1/ndx5to40.htm Each sheet is about 36,000 yds wide x 24,000 yds high. It is subdivided into squares, 6 across x 4 high. Each square is lettered a-x i = Square on above map, 6,000 yds x 6,000yds (Although some "squares" may be rectangles, 6000 x 5000 yards. Each square is divided into either 30 or 36 smaller squares, 1000 x 1000 yards, each square is numbered 1-36 29 = 1000 x 1000 yard square , divided into 4 quarters, a-d b = 500 x 500 yard square If you're happy with 500 yard accuracy, you can leave your co-ordinate like that. To get 50 yards of accuracy, you can must specify a pair of further co-ordinates, e.g 7.1 That gives you 51.i.29.b.7.1 To specify 5 yards accuracy, the last two numbers must be double digits, e.g 70.10 That gives you 51.i.29.b.70.10 The minimum you can specify, are the first 2 items 51.i You can also specify 51.i.29 or 51.i.29.b After that you must specify two numbers, separated by a full stop, either single or double digits, but they must both be single or both be double digit - mixing and matching is not allowed. The last confounding issue is that the first number (ie The Sheet Number), can sometimes have a suffix eg 36a. 36b. 36c. also after 51,57,62,66 &70 In such instances, the dot comes after the suffix letter so you can have 51b.i.29.b.70.10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 The OP confused me a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dai Bach y Sowldiwr Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 A larger image of the WD would help, but it seems to me that the co-ordinates are for Sheet 51A I read it as 51A.L.20.b.6.0 This is a couple of km west of Jenlain(Mentioned in WD). Bavay-also mentioned is a further 20km east Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 3 April , 2015 Share Posted 3 April , 2015 The writer seems to put the sheet number and then refers to justthe coordinates as the report continues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 4 April , 2015 Share Posted 4 April , 2015 It's becoming clearer. I put in 51.g.24.c.1.4 and it took me to a point west of Bavay. Knowing the sheet number is the key. It's quite often mentioned at the top of the WD. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig edgar Posted 5 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 5 April , 2015 Brian thanks for your detailed explanation, I have been able to pinpoint the artillery positions accurately now thanks to the input from yourself and johnboy so I just need to find out which battery my Great Uncle was in and I can map his last few months. Annoyingly the coordinates for each battery were not recorded throughout much of the first three quarters of the diary, perhaps in case it fell into the wrong hands I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 5 April , 2015 Share Posted 5 April , 2015 Craig It's Dai Bach who deserves the thanks. Have you tried the War Diary of the Commander Royal Artillery 24 Division. (National Archives WO 95/2195, now digitized). WO 95/2195/7 covers the date 05/11/1918 but since 106 Brigade RFA served with 24 Division from it's formation it may be worth looking at all of it. There may well be some maps. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 5 April , 2015 Share Posted 5 April , 2015 The centroid of grid location 51A.L.20.b.6.0 is at 50.3027, 3.5922. If you enter the grid location 50.3027, 3.5922. minus the full stop at the end, ie 50.3027, 3.5922 then you can enter it into google earth and get the location there. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig edgar Posted 6 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 6 April , 2015 Craig It's Dai Bach who deserves the thanks. Have you tried the War Diary of the Commander Royal Artillery 24 Division. (National Archives WO 95/2195, now digitized). WO 95/2195/7 covers the date 05/11/1918 but since 106 Brigade RFA served with 24 Division from it's formation it may be worth looking at all of it. There may well be some maps. Brian Thanks Brian, I'll have a look at that. The centroid of grid location 51A.L.20.b.6.0 is at 50.3027, 3.5922. If you enter the grid location 50.3027, 3.5922. minus the full stop at the end, ie 50.3027, 3.5922 then you can enter it into google earth and get the location there. Mike Thanks for your help Mike, I've downloaded Google Earth and the coordinates you give worked. How did you convert the original map reference to those coordinates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 6 April , 2015 Share Posted 6 April , 2015 How did you convert the original map reference to those coordinates? The Great War British Trench Map Coordinates Converter ( from now on the GWBTMCC ) gives these coordinates " The centroid of grid location 51A.L.20.b.6.0 is at 50.3027, 3.5922." I just found by trial and error that if you take off the last full stop, and copy and paste it into google earth it takes you to the location. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craig edgar Posted 7 April , 2015 Author Share Posted 7 April , 2015 The Great War British Trench Map Coordinates Converter ( from now on the GWBTMCC ) gives these coordinates " The centroid of grid location 51A.L.20.b.6.0 is at 50.3027, 3.5922." I just found by trial and error that if you take off the last full stop, and copy and paste it into google earth it takes you to the location. Mike I'll try that, thanks a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now