Unique Composite Pilots Route Map (2 results)
More imagesLanguage: English
Published by (War Office; Air Ministry), (London) 1944
- Map
Seller: Dendera, London, United KingdomDendera
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used - Good
£ 125.00
£ 25.00 shippingShips from United Kingdom to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketNo Binding. Condition: Good. A unique composite colour printed, partially linen-backed paper pilot's map approx 145x26cm. Good, neatly folded with a couple of fold tears and minor loss, clearly used with flight lines neatly drawn on and ms annotations. An improvisation like this was a practical way around carrying several standa…rd format charts that could not conveniently show the long linear routes flown. This one is made up of 3 adjacent 1/1M sheets, each neatly cropped into small sections and stuck together to form a continuous slightly bow-shaped image without borders. In sequence from NW to SE, the first sheet, retaining its title "Marseille - Nice" revised and zincographed by OS 1944 has been identified as "K.31 & PT.32, 2758, no. 2758" by Forward Survey Company 512, Royal Engineers, 1944 (OCLC 949815322). From this, the adjoining sheets lacking titles have been identified as "J.31 & PT.32 Alger - Bizerte", and "J.33 and PTS. 32, 34 Tunis - Palermo". Between them they cover the area from Malta to the Alpes de Provence, with a flight route drawn from an unlabelled location marked with a cross to the south of Valletta (this would be RAF Luqa), to a location marked north of Cagliari (probably Decimomannu Air Base), then on to Marseilles. During WW2, RAF Luqa was home to Air HQ Malta, a major base for British Commonwealth forces seeking naval control in the Mediterranean and ground control in North Africa, with air combat over and near Malta among the fiercest. After taking Sardinia in 1943, the USAAF used Decimomannu Air Base for its B26 Marauder medium bombers during Nov 1943 to Oct 1944. This map may therefore have been used in the Anglo-US bombing of Marseilles in May 1944, and the subsequent Allied invasion of Provence (Operation Dragoon) on 15 August, using both bases to disrupt Axis supply lines and support the advance. This led to the Free French liberation of Marseilles a few days later.
More imagesUnique composite RAF pilot's route map from Habbaniya (Iraq) to Sharjah made up of sections from I-38 Baghdad, H-38 Basra, H-39 Bushire, G-39 Hofuf, and G-40 Bandar Abbas (Asia 1:1,000,000 Army / Air Style series)
(Directorate of Military Survey, War Office; RAF Habbaniya; RAF Station Shaibah; RAF Sharjah)
Language: English
Published by (War Office; Air Ministry), (London) 1945
- Map
Seller: Dendera, London, United KingdomDendera
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used - Good
£ 1,150.00
£ 25.00 shippingShips from United Kingdom to U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketNo Binding. Condition: Good. A unique composite colour printed paper pilot's map approx 176x26cm. Good, neatly folded with a couple of fold tears, clearly used with flight lines neatly drawn on, related ms annotations, location references, spot heights, and calculations. No dates are retained, but 1945 based on the edition numbe…rs of the Hofuf and Basra sheets (OCLC 1535521707,1532281630, 234163828). An improvisation like this was a practical way around carrying several standard format charts that could not conveniently show the long linear routes flown. This one is made up of 5 adjacent sheets from the Army / Air Style Asia 1/1M Series, each neatly cropped into small squares and stuck together to form a continuous slightly bow-shaped image without borders. The sheet titles with a couple of editions (identifiable when the joins are held to the light) include in sequence from NW to SE: I-38 Baghdad, H-38 Basra (7th Edition, Army / Air Style), H-39 Bushire, G-39 Hofuf (4th Edition), and G-40 Bandar Abbas. Between them they cover from the environs of Tikrit in Iraq to Buraimi Oasis and beyond. Stretches of the Gulf coasts are retained, including Bushire on the Persian side, and Kuwait, the Neutral Zone, some of Saudi, all 7 Trucial States, and Oman on the Arabian. Two routes are drawn from Habbaniya to Kuwait City, one direct, the other via Shu'aiba (Shaibah), then a single direct route over Gulf waters exactly along the mid-point of the sheets to Sharjah, which has an onward line labelled off sheet "To Jiwani". RAF Habbaniya, a major imperial base 55 miles to the west of Baghdad, housed Air HQ Iraq and Persia. Late in WW2 it was an important stage on the southern UK-USSR route, a USAAF stopover for its large Lend-Lease aircraft between the assembly facility at Abadan and Cairo, and a USAAF transport route to Mehrabad (Tehran). RAF Station Shaibah a few miles SW of Basrah came under Air HQ Iraq and Persia, was significantly expanded during WW2 to support RAF Habbaniya, and after WW2 helped in the evacuation of AIOC personnel from Abadan during nationalisation (1951-53). The RAF did not have a formal base close to Kuwait City, but were able to land there. RAF Sharjah, first established as an important base for Imperial Airways in 1932, played a vital role in supporting British military operations in the Peninsula during WW2 and in the years to independence. RAF Jiwani located in Omani-ruled Gwadar (Balochistan) was a major RAF and USAAF stopover between Sharjah and Karachi during WW2.
