| British (regular series)Trench-maps HOME CONVENTIONAL SIGNS | |
| The beginnings | |
| At the
outbreak of WW1 in August 1914, the BEF was equipped with "tactical maps"
of the scale 1:100,000 for Belgium (GSGS 2364) and in 1:80,000 scale for
France (GSGS 2526). These were fine for wars of movement as had been
encountered previously, but when the war became more static and entrenched
as from September 1914, it became clear that larger scale maps were
needed, especially for the artillery. For this reason, the 1:80,000 scale
maps were enlarged to 1:40,000 scale (and possibly even 1:20,000)
The original 1:80,000 maps had been surveyed in the 19th Century and suffered from inaccuracies that were accentuated by the enlargements. It therefore became necessary to conduct new surveys. Permission for this was given in December 1914 and work started at the end of January 1915 by the 1st Ranging Section, RE. This survey produced a new series of 1:20,000 scale maps (GSGS 2742). No trenches were shown on these 1:20,000 maps (which were regarded as "artillery maps") until the end of 1915. |
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| The birth of the "trench" map | |
| Sketch maps of
trenches shown on aerial photos had been made since the end of 1914, some
of which had been reproduced by the Printing Coy.RE at GHQ. At the end of
December 1914 the two Armies of the BEF were given their own Maps Section
and "trench diagram" maps had been produced from early 1915. The Battle of
Neuve Chapelle, in March 1915 was planned and fought using such 1:5,000
scale "diagram maps". However, being based on sketches, there were many
inaccuracies contained in these maps so it was decided to introduce
a new "regular series" of 1:10,000 scale maps (GSGS 3062) covering the
British front. This occurred from June 1915 in the 2nd Army area with the
"Provisional edition" maps sometimes showing trench outlines By August 1915, the first true army-wide "trench-maps" were produced - the "A series" maps with trenches from photos taken in late July 1915.
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| Continuing developments 1916 - 1918 | |
| By the late
Autumn of 1915, the whole of the BEF was using the 1:10,000 scale maps as
the base sheets for others. From these maps, very accurate 1:20,000 scale
maps were also being produced. By now, the accuracy was so good due to
advances in techniques, that it was possible to put trenches on these
1:20,000 maps (previously, the detail had been too fine for this).
New Field Survey Companies were formed in February 1916 and these grew at fast rates with techniques and technical developments improving all the time. By September 1917 the Companies were recognised as battalions (though not named as such until June 1918). |
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| 1918 | |
| At the
beginning of 1918, trench-mapping was at it's peak. The variety of
different sheets was astonishing, with different "overlays", "special"
editions, "secret" editions, "local" editions, etc. and accuracy was
second to none with the ability (now that printing was done in France and
could be produced locally) to have trenches correct to only a couple of
days previously. By this point, it was possible to encounter up to six or
seven different varieties of the same edition of the same map! The amount of detail to be encountered on the maps of early to mid 1918 also makes some of these (especially in 1:20,000 scale) the most interesting to study today. By now, practically all trenches, British and German, were shown in detail, as were dugouts, some shell holes, felled trees and any other obstacle or reference point. Particularly interesting maps of this period are those of "old" battlefields that were being fought over once again (such as the Somme, where the old 1st July 1916 trenches can still be made out amongst the 1918 ones - this makes the 1918 maps of interest to the student of the 1916 battle as it's difficult to find much detail of British trenches on the 1916 non-"secret" edition maps).
At some time during mid-1918, it was decided to alter the colours of the trenches shown on the maps and ,therefore, British trenches became to be depicted in red and German in blue. This was not a universal change and was only on certain maps - German trenches remaining in red on certain maps right up to the war's end.
As the 1918 fighting became more fluid (especially after the Battle of Amiens in August), it became impossible to keep up with the movements on the 1:10,000 scale so it was decided to drop this scale, the final editions of certain maps being produced in late September. The rest of the war was fought using 1:20,000 scale and 1:40,000 scale maps. At this point, it became possible to find "trench" maps in 1:40,000 scale - previously unheard of.
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