Great pod today - @wehaveways – chewing the cud in Burma. Got me thinking about mapping for the country and all that jungle. Who did it? And in 1942, how good was it?

(These are 1954 HMSO issues, done for illustrative purposes, little more.)
#mapmen 🧵 1954 HMSO issues - BURMA Overview - public domain
Start big. Overviews are useful. This one is a public domain, US Army-sourced map showing the transportation routes across the China-Burma-India theatre between 1942-1943. It ain't all that. But... US Army - open issue - briefing, largest scale
... to my mind, the pre-war maps are where to start. They can be a real help (@robert_lyman's superb book has made these names familiar, but - check these out - it’s the ‘red numbers’ correlating the areas, that helped me understand who moved where. Mimbu, Meiktila etc.) J.G. Bartholomew - Imperial gazetteer of India. New edition,
When the Japanese invaded in ’42, they needed maps too. This is one of 20 in a series, large scale.

Colonial outreach meant Allied maps of the region were pretty common, but, surprisingly, Japanese efforts at mapping their 'areas of interest' weren't what you'd call prolific 😬. Public domain: created as No. 7 of a 20 map series detailing
Zooming in now, our Directorate of Military Survey ran the Survey of India Office, in Calcutta, which used its survey intel to make these. There's a whole series.

This is Meiktila 😊 I’ll add three. But does this start bringing the reality of the terrain home - OR WHAT? Meiktila 1942 - public domain - Survey of India, DMS
You’ll see 'Army Map Service' stamps: the relationship between mapping organisations was nebulous, and it's a treasure trove of unappreciated insight - 😉📗🔥🗺️🧑‍🤝‍🧑 - but this is Tharrawaddy.

Imagined being handed this. Tharrawaddy District 1942 - public domain - Survey of India,
... or this. This is Minbu. Have a look at the contours on this map. It's not exactly Walmington-on-Sea, is it. To be honest, you'd either laugh or cry - but it's okay! - #mapmen have got you covered on that ... Minbu - 1942 - public domain - Survey of India, DMS
... no matter what, troops could always find light relief in the idiosyncratic inclusion of such important points of interest as Camping Grounds. Vines on A Trellis. Cliffs. And Submerged Rocks.

Bless 'em. 😂 Anyway. Back to the grindpebble. 😊
#mapmen 🧵

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Merryn

Merryn Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @rentaquill

29 Apr 21
Maps make a battle. Have a gander at the Blue & Greys at Shiloh, April 6 1862. Format, tech, scale are incompatible, I know [🤪], but which *style* nails our view of the *spirit* of the action, best? HT @Blanch6144

General Buell's action overview for public consumption? General Buell's map of the battle-field of Shiloh. Buell, Do
Or the simple, approved, on-the-hoof version of the action according to the Confederate commander, Beauregard, drawn up by Frémaux, a French artist working in Louisiana as a civil engineer and cartographer?. Frémaux, Léon Joseph, and G. T Beauregard. Map of the batt
Back to the Union. Is it simplicity that helps? Paraphrasing from Sherman's memoirs: "Buell rode to me, and I explained where we were. Buell asked for use of my map, which I lent him on the promise he would return it. Major Michler made a copy, and returned the original to me." Sherman's "Mud map" of Pittsburg Landing, from Mar
Read 10 tweets
21 Apr 21
Another 🚨🌍map klaxon🌍🚨, this time as part of the 664th Engineer Topographic Company's work, mapping movements through Bastogne (that's "BastooOOOoone" in #wehaveways) running right through from 19 to 31 December 1944.

(Found in an odd folder. I'd forgotten about these.)
Bastogne, 20th December...
Bastogne, 21st December...
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(