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click in any of the grid squares on the index to view our collection of maps & photos for that area. Grey grid squares indicate that no material is available for the area. NOTE: 1:40,000 scale maps were used for planning over large areas and do not usually show individual trenches.
1700 miles of mystery
The collection has 350 individual maps of the front done by the French army mapmaking agency. Above are a map of the Argonne Forest showing the trenches, done on July 23, 1918, and a detail of those trenches from the large map.
A cartography of War
Trench maps are a primary source for studying the major battlefields of the Great War. They show in detail the changing Front Line and its associated communication trenches, as well as the location of enemy positions and defences including artillery gun emplacements, machine guns, mines, wire entanglements, and observation posts.
Trench Mapper is a web-based portal created by The Western Front Association and provides access and download capabilities for trench maps, images, and sketches from WWI.
If you have found a trench map reference like B.30.a 3.5 or X.2.a.34.12 in family or military histories, war diaries etc, this document will help find where that is. Introduction. The trench maps used in the Great War resulted from the exigencies of war, they were not best suited to their purpose.
