{"title":"British trench maps","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"secret-montauban-trench-map-first-night-somme-offensive-bombardment-24-june-1916-p-8-007248","title":"Secret Montauban trench map—First night Somme offensive bombardment—24 June 1916","description":"\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003eMontauban. Parts of Sheets 57D S.E., 57C S.W., 62D N.E., 62C N.W. Trenches corrected to 2-6-16. Scale 1:20,000 [cover panel: Trench Map — Secret — Montauban. Scale 1:20,000.]\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eA British trench map marked up with artillery targets for the first night of the Somme's preliminary bombardment, 24–25 June 1916. Stamped SECRET and numbered Copy No. 5, its cover is inscribed 'Night U\/V No. 5' above 'Barrage Points'. U and V denote 24 and 25 June: contemporary artillery orders and a dated diary corroborate this interpretation. The coloured manuscript marks allocate German positions and approaches to British and French weapons, explained by a handwritten key at upper right: heavy howitzers in red on Pommiers Redoubt and the Montauban defences; French 220 mm howitzers in black on the village and Glatz Redoubt; French 75s in blue; 60-pounders and 4.5-inch howitzers in green across Bernafay and Trônes Woods; 4.7-inch guns in yellow on Longueval and Guillemont; and 6-inch Mark VII guns in orange on Ginchy and, off the sheet, Combles. These marks identify targets, rather than the locations of the guns. The geography and Anglo-French artillery scheme are consistent with the XIII Corps sector. The cover's night designation links this copy to the opening bombardment a week before the infantry assault on 1 July. Montauban special sheet, G.S.G.S. 3188, at 1:20,000; trenches corrected to 2 June 1916. Folding and linen-backed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54231669113179,"sku":"P-8-007248","price":1720.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0923\/9583\/1643\/files\/P-8-007248a.jpg?v=1790885168"},{"product_id":"thiepval-trench-map-x-corps-annotated-first-day-somme-offensive-objectives-1916-p-8-007249","title":"Thiepval trench map—X Corps annotated First-day Somme Offensive objectives 1916","description":"\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003eFrance. Sheet 57D S.E. Edition 2 B. Trenches corrected to 28-4-16. Scale 1:20,000 [cover panel: Trench Map. France. Sheet 57D S.E. Edition 2. B. Index to adjoining sheets.]\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eA densely annotated British trench map marked up to show the successive infantry objectives of the 32nd Division, X Corps, for the first day of the Somme Offensive, 1 July 1916, together with supporting British artillery positions. Pinned to its upper-left corner, an untitled Royal Engineers plan dated 27 May 1916 shows the British front line and successive German trenches with A–D references across the 32nd Division's Thiepval–Leipzig Salient sector and the neighbouring 36th (Ulster) Division's frontage towards Schwaben Redoubt and Grandcourt. The relevant numbered objective references have been copied by hand from the attachment onto the main map, alongside handwritten trench and strongpoint names. The British Official History of the Great War, Map 9, corroborates these first-day objectives: the B, C and D trench lines correspond to the first, second and third objectives. Brown boundaries delimit the 32nd Division's sector between the 36th Division to the north and 8th Division to the south; a blue boundary separates the 96th Brigade's northern and 97th Brigade's southern frontages. The pasted lower-right key identifies the supporting guns by calibre, corresponding to coloured position symbols behind the British lines, and explains water installations; its manuscript supplement classifies transport routes. Outlined groups in Aveluy Wood probably mark infantry assembly trenches; the Official History locates the 49th (West Riding) Division's 146th, 147th and 148th Brigades here at zero hour (7.30am) on 1 July, held in X Corps reserve. Sheet 57D S.E., Edition 2B, G.S.G.S. 2742, at 1:20,000; trenches corrected to 28 April 1916. Manuscript additions probably date from June 1916: the dated attachment and operational content fit preparations for the opening assault and the preliminary bombardment of 24–30 June. Folding and linen-backed.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54231670227291,"sku":"P-8-007249","price":3340.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0923\/9583\/1643\/files\/P-8-007249a.jpg?v=1790885168"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.antiquemapsandprints.com\/collections\/british-trench-maps.oembed","provider":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}