Where were distances measured from on maps?

[Tinkicka]

Hi,

 

I have tried to research this elsewhere but have come up empty handed, so it is over to the collective wisdom of forum members.

 

The question appears quite simple - "Where were distances measured from on maps in WW1?" However, I feel that the answer may not be that simple...

 

I have a number of references that indicate distances along the lines of "2 and half miles East of [position]', "3/4 of a mile north of [position]", where [position] is the name of a local town. Some of these towns are rather large and from the middle to the edge of town (as measured on the WW1 map) can be up to a mile or more, throwing the distance measurement way off.

 

Was there a normal reference point - church steeple, railway station etc - that was used as a standard reference point when making measurements? I know that there were lots of people making measurements but the use of a standard would have been nice. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Tinkicka (Brett)

[WhiteStarLine]

Hi Brett,

 

I haven't seen any formal reference so I think it was up to the person giving the measurement to decide, like me saying I'm 300 kilometres west of Sydney.  If you needed a precision measurement, you would supply a trench map reference.  Here is a worked example supporting the town edge.  An AIF soldier from my grandfather's section, James Boyd, was killed west of Bray-sur-Somme, the grave photographed and recorded and subsequently lost.

 

First, his war service record, which gives us a precise reference coupled with a distance:

 

Let's plot the 2 positions, with the left hand one as given by the National Australian Archives and the right hand side exactly 2,350 yards to the east:

The LHS easting is -120958.62 metres from the central origin and RHS easting is -118809.78 so we have a cross-check of 2,148.8 metres or 2,350 yards.  This coincides with the 1918 outskirts of Bray as the two surveyed points (crucifix and church, drawn as circles with a dot) are significantly outside this distance.

 

Last 2 pictures are from my grandfather's album and totally gratuitous...