I have some 1943 1:250,000 topographic maps of Germany that were published by the (British?) War Office.  They are printed on old maps.  The verso of one is a German map of Newcastle with a red X on it.  Another has a German topo map of Scotland on the verso.  It is not x’ed out, but the original sheet was trimmed to the correct size for the War Office Map.  I was told that these maps were produced during a paper shortage in WWII.  I have them in my “curiosities” awaiting collection development decisions” pile.

Kathy Stroud

David and Nancy Petrone Map/GIS Librarian Knight Library

1299 University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97403-1299

541-346-3051

“A map is not just a picture—it’s also the data behind the map, the methodology used to collect and parse that data, the people doing that work, the choices made in terms of visualization and the software used to make them.”

From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Ratliff, Louise
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2019 8:53 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: AMS Maps printed on captured maps?

Hi Linda,

   At UCLA I have seen a few of these maps that were printed on the verso of some different map.  I think you are correct that there was a shortage of paper, so they used what they could find to print new versions of maps. (Sorry but I don’t recall which maps I saw; it was a few years ago.)

  --Louise

Louise Ratliff

Social Sciences and Map Catalog Librarian

UCLA Library Cataloging & Metadata Center

2400 Life Sciences Building

Box 957230

Los Angeles, CA 90095-7230

(310)206-5853

From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Zellmer, Linda
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2019 8:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: AMS Maps printed on captured maps?

Hello,

While working on cataloging the collection here at WIU, I found a map of part of the port of Hamburg, Germany printed on what appears to be a German Anschluss map of an area in Scotland. Since most of my experience has been with the AMS topo sets, I am wondering if anyone else has run across this. The German side of the map has a blue X across the map. Because it was so odd, I decided to keep the map.

I am planning to give a talk about the World War II era maps that we have in our collection before the end of the semester. We are not open evenings, so I cannot do a talk closer to D-Day, but they are a resource that I would like to share with our wider community. Of course this unusual map will be included.

Linda Zellmer

P.S. I assume that at the time it was cheaper to use the paper on hand than to ship paper from the U.S. to print maps, thus the double printing.

--

Linda Zellmer
Government Information & Data Services Librarian
Liaison to Natural & Physical Sciences & Agriculture
415 Malpass Library
Macomb, IL 61455
[log in to unmask]
Phone: 309-298-2723
Fax: 309-298-2791