Building a map

When the British area was surveyed as an emergency from 1915 onwards, a full blown geodetic grid was not available of the same quality and accuracy as one set out in peactime.

Despite that, a map could be built using fixed points then detail added as an overlay such as in this sequence of contemporary examples from sheet 57E SE. Click for larger versions.

Road junctions placed on the grid

Road detail sketched in by techniques such as a theodilite or compass traverse. That means each detailed "wiggle" in a road is not as accurately surveyed as the junctions.

More detail added such as railways

Then rivers and streams

More detail such as woods and embankments

Contours

Final assembled basemap ready to be over printed with trenches at a later date.