WW II map references

[dstrachan]

Anyone point me to where I can get maps of Northwest Europe from WW II that include the map references?  I have the war diaries describing ,my father's compan's movements and I would like to be able to transfer the locations to the maps.

Specifically looking for Emmerich to Gendringen area.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[3rd Herd]

Online and current try Goggle Maps. You can access both standard maps and then satellite mapping. If you are after the historic aspect and desire original hard copies try visiting some of the local used book stores and thrift shops for atlases of the time frame you are interested in. Another option pointed out to myself by Micheal O'Leary is E bay and the online auctions for military maps. Lastly there are several internet sites that have different types of maps which you can download. Some of the educational sites or components of them such as Zoom School have down loadable templates.

VP

 

[klambie]

They occasionally appear on eBay, but can be expensive.  Had my eye on some 1:50,000's from around Caen and south over the weekend (important Canadian area) and while some of the peripheral ones went for around $25 US, the key ones were up around $90 US per sheet.

Not quite the same, but you can look at those locations on current Google (or similar) maps, which also let you see airphotos for the area (resolution varies).  This site translates map references to Lat/Longs which you can feed directly to Google, etc.

http://www.echodelta.net/mbs/eng-translator.php

Your area will be the Nord de Guerre zone.  You also need to figure out which square it is in from this page
http://www.echodelta.net/mbs/eng-grids.php#s4

I've never determined how to match these two letter identifiers with any of the typical map sheet data, so it's a bit of comparing to another map (say Google) to identify landmarks, etc. and a bit of experimenting to find the right one.  Something obvious in a town or the like will act as a double check to make sure you aren't on in adjacent square.

From my experimenting, the coordinates generated here seem pretty accurate.

 

[3rd Herd]

They occasionally appear on eBay, but can be expensive.  Had my eye on some 1:50,000's from around Caen and south over the weekend (important Canadian area) and while some of the peripheral ones went for around $25 US, the key ones were up around $90 US per sheet.

Prices were allot cheaper before the recent "collectors" craze. When Micheal pointed myself to the E Bay auction I was able to pick up several original World War One maps at a very reasonable dollar. Next with the lettering of maps instead of grid coordinates it was done as a security meassure. One of the better examples can be found in Operation Drumbeat by Micheal Connelly which is the grid-alpha numeric changes used by the U boat services. A very concise explanation is further given for the reasons and success/failure of that system. One could also argue that by having a simple letter designation for a specific grid is allows for more timely and accurate radio transmissions. It also from first hand experience allows the poor Rad/Sig op more time to play cribage/hearts etc and invent other methods of staying awake while watching and waiting for those orange lights to come on.

 

[dstrachan]

FANTASTIC!!!

Thanks for the links and advice! 

I had used Google maps before to zoom in on the general area but was never quite sure exactly where things were.
By using the links you provided and overlaying the maps, I have been able to zoom right in on some of the buildings my dad remembers from his time there in 1945 ( not much has changed in that rural area).  It is really helping in piecing together his story.

I willl keep an eye open for WW II military maps on e-bay though it sounds like they are getting pretty expensive.  I used to have some maps from the National Archives that were excellent as they showd all roads etc and included building clusters.  I may try to get  some of those as well.

Thanks again.

Dave