WW1 body density maps

[Guest]

I am interested in ‘body density maps’ of the First World War. I would like to 1.see them and 2 purchase maps some if I can.

would somebody please point me in the right direction,

many thanks

[DavidOwen]

Welcome to the Forum

 

If you do a search for "body density" you will find quite a lot of previous threads on the subject some of which may direct you to the items you are looking for.

 

Good luck with your search

 

David

[jay dubaya]

It is also worth a search for 'Individual burial location maps'. Are there any particular area you are looking for?

[WhiteStarLine]

Hi CPL and welcome to the forum.  tMapper has the Individual Burial Locations marked on a modern map in the form of a heatmap and you can zoom in and out of particular areas of interest and see the retrievals for a grid square.

 

Each plot represents the number of bodies thought to be present by Directorate of Graves Registration & Enquiries.  The highest concentration is 829, at the NZ memorial, north of Longueval.

 

[Michelle Young]

@Howard 

Howard Anderson is a member here and knows a lot about the body Density maps. The WFA did sell trench map CDs which included some of these maps on the discs.

 

Michelle

[Michael Thomson]

This is a fascinating topic. If I'm not mistaken, body density maps, while closely related to how heavy fighting was at a particular spot, do not necessarily represent the ferocity of fighting in a place but rather the number of unburied or hastily buried bodies found there after the war? These bodies could be from 1915 through to 1918 if I am not mistaken? 

 

Many many soldiers were simply vapourised by shellfire in the heaviest bombardments, with no traces of them ever to be found. 

[RaySearching]

21 minutes ago, Michael Thomson said:

Many many soldiers were simply vapourised by shellfire in the heaviest bombardments, with no traces of them ever to be found.

 Are you sure ?

[Michael Thomson]

I've read several accounts of soldiers reporting seeing fellow soldiers who were in the immediate vicinity of a shell when it hit simply gone without a trace. Naturally one would expect blood and probably small shreds of flesh and bone to be left but I doubt that there would be enough of a soldier to bury or even identify if he was in a direct hit by a shell. 

 

I doubt these men would be reflected on a body density map? I'm no expert though, just assuming...

Edited 30 June , 2019 by Michael Thomson

[jay dubaya]

It is important to look at the purpose of these 'individual burial location maps' which were prepared by the Directorate of Graves Registration and Enquires (DGRE) in early 1919. The blue figures indicate to the labour companies about to start the grim task of clearance, where bodies were registered as buried according to DGRE records. The blue figures do not represent any burials within  'registered' cemeteries within the square even if that cemetery is due for concentration. Unburied bodies and bodies whose temporary burial was not notified to DGRE are also not included.

Edited 7 October , 2019 by jay dubaya

[Howard]

On 29/06/2019 at 11:24, CPL said:

I am interested in ‘body density maps’ of the First World War. I would like to 1.see them and 2 purchase maps some if I can.

would somebody please point me in the right direction,

many thanks

The WFA Mapping the Front DVDs have the body density maps of the area long with a lot more.

 

Howard