Maps of British positions produced by Germany

[Histoire]

Hello

 

I'm researching positions of British artillery units & batteries at various points in the war. I'm thinking maps produced by Germany may be a good place to start. Maybe there are also British and other sources (?)

Please may I ask for suggestions of good sources; and where to find them.

 

Thanks

 

Edited 16 November , 2023 by Histoire
clarification

[WhiteStarLine]

@Histoire, The Western Front Association has a reasonable collection of German and British artillery maps, all georeferenced.  Below is a snippet of the Batteriekarte Jeperen XIX, 1:20,000 with batteries, targets from 8/10/1917.  Also, the Haig collection of artillery maps from July 1916 has batteries positioned with a legend for type / calibre.  A cross-check from unit war diaries of battery positions (very small sample) showed good correlation.

This sounds like a significant research project so if you contact me or @Howard we can probably assist you offline with a catalogue and access to specific resources.  You may then be able to inform the project of the meaning and symbols within some of the more specialist maps.

[Howard]

9 minutes ago, WhiteStarLine said:

@Histoire, The Western Front Association has a reasonable collection of German and British artillery maps, all georeferenced.  Below is a snippet of the Batteriekarte Jeperen XIX, 1:20,000 with batteries, targets from 8/10/1917.  Also, the Haig collection of artillery maps from July 1916 has batteries positioned with a legend for type / calibre.  A cross-check from unit war diaries of battery positions (very small sample) showed good correlation.

This sounds like a significant research project so if you contact me or @Howard we can probably assist you offline with a catalogue and access to specific resources.  You may then be able to inform the project of the meaning and symbols within some of the more specialist maps.

 

As Bill says, we have a lot of maps that show artillery. You might like to look at m_018234. It is a huge map stored in approximately square tiles joined by linen hinges (to allow it to be in a box, not rolled up). We have displayed it re-assembled. It is over 2 metres high and shows where the Germans thought British batteries were in June 1917.

There are two German sites marked in the Houthulst Forest, one in red and the other green. Lines radiate out from there to arcs on the western edge of the map, these lines converge on the spire of Elverdinghe church. It is presumed the spire was the aiming or reference point for two Big Bertha howitzers in the forest.

In TrenchMapper, right click, choose Map ID jump and enter m_018234. When you pan around, it is important to pan in small steps otherwise TM might change maps.

Name: Houthulst Forest (German)
Scale: 1:20,000
Edition: 29/06/1917
Huge map pasted from various series. Batteries, targets, trenches and huge arc from position near Houthulster Forst (Houthulst). Printed 29/06/1917
Id: m_018234

You could also look at h12 (use Map ID jump etc.) . Then look at h4, h5, h6, h8. h9, h10, h11 and h27. In TM take care to check the map's metadata in the left panel, I find myself making mistakes here, i.e. ensure the ID is as intended. If not use Map ID again.

Name: IV Army Artillery Map June 1916
Scale: 1:20,000
One map in 4 tiles. Full map. Somme battlefield just before attack in July 1916 Artillery dispositions. Printed June 1918
Id: h12

In the TM map list, there are hundreds of maps with the word Artillery in the metadata.

I have experimented with tracing battery positions, I hope the Forum software will allow these Google Earth files, traced from h12. One of them is the key/legend.

Good luck!

Howard

Somme 1916 4.2 inch guns.kmz Somme 1916 4.5 inch Howitzers.kmz Somme 1916 4.7 inch and 60 pounders.kmz Somme 1916 6 inch guns.kmz Somme 1916 6 inch Howitzers.kmz Somme 1916 8 inch howitzers.kmz Somme 1916 9.2 inch howitzers.kmz Somme 1916 12 inch and 15 inch howitzers.kmz Somme 1916 12 inch guns.kmz Somme 1916 18 pounders and 75mm.kmz Somme 1916 120mm.kmz Somme 1916 British front line.kmz Somme 1916 German front line.kmz Somme 1916 Key.kmz

[KIRKY]

HI I cannot get the files to open?

Tony

[Howard]

16 minutes ago, KIRKY said:

HI I cannot get the files to open?

Tony

They are Google Earth files. You need that on your machine first.

They can also be viewed on https://kmlviewer.nsspot.net/ or a variety of online .KMZ viewers. Save them on your machine first.

Howard