Report on Survey on the Western Front 1914-1918

Diagram of area surveyed or partially surveyed during the war.

Illustrations to Appendix I.
Diagram 1. Systems of triangulation in Northern France and Belgium.
Diagram 2. Adjustments in longitude.
Diagram 3. Common and adjusted points.

Specimens Of Maps

The seven specimens which follow are exact reproductions of maps produced during the war, and illustrate changes in style and in methods of drawing and reproduction from the earliest to the latest dates.
The first six specimens show the same portion of 1/20,000 sheet 57c.N.W. in the neighbourhood of Bapaume, in six different editions, drawn in the style current during the war.
The seventh specimen shows a portion of sheet 5e.S.W., drawn with the Allied signs and the new grid. The following descriptive notes give the chief points calling for attention.

No. 1. Edition 1 (B Series), 1915.
This edition was produced by enlarging the 1/80,000 map, and re-drawing. The detail is coarse and bears little relation, except in the rough general outline, to the true facts. The contours are especially vague.

No. 2. Edition 2, May, 1916.
This edition was produced by compilation of cadastral plans corrected by air photos. Note the great refinement of detail as compared with the First Edition and the improvement in the contours. Note also the blank spaces due to lack of photos, e.g., south-west of Bapaume.
(Edition 3 shows practically no change.)

No. 3. Edition 4, October, 1916.
Note the numerous additions to detail (such as trees and road cuttings) due to a plentiful supply of better photographs. In this edition a large amount of tactical' information is written on the map for the first time. The contours remain unchanged.

No. 4. Edition 5, December, 1916.
The most noticeable feature of this edition is the greater fineness of the detail, which is due to photographic reduction from an original drawing on the 1/10,000 scale. The typing of names has, however, been done after reduction, and they are consequently legible, though perhaps a little coarse. Note the additions to the detail, the omission of much of the written information, and the remarkable improvement in the contours, which show much greater detail in the ground forms. This is due mainly to close study of the air photos.

No. 5. Edition 6, February, 1917.
This edition is instructive from the point of view of reproduction. The detail is the same as that on Edition 5, with few, if any, alterations. The names have, however, been typed on the original drawing, with the result that they have been reduced in size with the outline. The consequence is that in many cases they are much too small, and are inclined to be illegible. This map, though presenting a fine appearance is, as regards legibility and usefulness, to some extent a set back from the previous edition, and shows the unsuitability of reduction to half scale, unless special provision be made in the typing of names.
On the other hand there is a noticeable improvement in the contours, partly due to their being printed in brown, and partly to the insertion of intermediate contours at 5 metre intervals. Otherwise their shape remains as in Edition 5.

(Edition 7 and 8 show no change.)

No. 6. Edition 9, July, 1918.
This map is from a new drawing on 1/10,000 scale. As in Edition 5, the outline has been reduced from the original, but, the names have been typed after reduction, so that they are now legible, though finer than in Edition 5. Note numerous alterations in detail, some due to actual changes and others to better information. Note also the changes in the contours, due to survey on the ground in the previous year, when Bapaume and the adjoining country were in our possession.
The contours on this edition are for the first time due to survey on the ground, and the difference between them and those of the last edition, which were the best that could be produced without visiting the ground, should be noticed.

No. 7. New Series on Lambert Projection.
The last specimen shows a portion of 5e.S.W. (Lambert Series) drawn with the Allied conventional signs and the French grid. In comparing this with the previous specimens it should be noted that the original drawing for this map was done on the same scale, and that the detail cannot therefore appear so fine as in a reduction from a drawing on twice the scale.
The chief points to notice are the signs for woods, brushwood and fir trees, the tree-lined roads, and the light effect of the hedge and tree symbols when in or close to villages. The railway symbol is heavier than the British sign (it is drawn a little too thickly on this specimen), and it is open to question whether it is an improvement. Lastly, the general effect of the grid should be noticed. The absence of the small 500-yard squares used in the British system relieves the map of a great many lines, and gives it a more open appearance.
It should be remembered that this map is of accessible ground, whereas the Bapaume area was for most of the war inaccessible. Sheet 5e.S.W. was produced by a combination of ground survey, cadastral compilation, and air photos.