Aerial reconnaisance photograph (mosaic 1/10,000 scale)

This map is an aerial reconnaisance photographic mosaic map issued to a junior British officer prior to an operation on the Western Front, 1918. Prior to the First World War, armies were limited to using observation balloons to achieve photographic vantage. By using aeroplanes, these aerial photographs could provide a vertical and three dimensional, 360 degree view of enemy territory. The photographs were compiled into photo-mosaics and used to form base maps, such as this example,

The large black and white photograph depicts an operational area in northern France, folded into three sections. The map was compiled by 42 Squadron, Royal Air Force, from photographs taken about 12th, 14th and 15th May 1918 in France. It was produced by No. 1 Advanced Section of the Army Printing and Stationery Services.

As a late First World War map, it was made to the large scale of 1/10,000. British Army Trench Maps developed from the shift from movement to a static situation of trench warfare on the Western Front. This shift required the production of larger scale maps so that units in the trenches could use them to locate enemy defensive positions and to accurately build a picture of the type of ground held by the enemy. New maps were produced from a new survey of the ground on the British fighting front from January 1915.

The map belonged to Captain George Middleton Turner (15th Royal Warwickshire Regiment, United Kingdom), who fought in France during the First World War. After travelling widely through the 1920s, he settled in New Zealand. He retired to Nelson and died 1973.