Cyprus—Cold War Airborne Assault Exercise Snowdrop—Restricted—April 1953 map
£680
SKU
'Exercise Snow Drop'
British military exercise map produced in April 1953, reproduced by 42 Survey Engineer Regiment from GSGS 4242 sheets 3, 4, 7, and 8 under the authority of the Geographical Section, General Staff. Originally issued RESTRICTED and later stamped as declassified. Exercise Snow Drop was a Cold War airborne and ground-forces training exercise conducted in Cyprus, then still a British Crown Colony, intended to test rapid deployment and manoeuvre of British forces during the early phase of the Cold War. The map covers western Cyprus between Morphou Bay and the approaches to Nicosia, at a scale suited to brigade-level planning and movement control. Conducted two years before the Cyprus Emergency (1955–59), the exercise reflects Britain’s continued emphasis on conventional and airborne operations rather than internal security. While specific units are not named, such exercises typically involved airborne/paratroop forces, infantry, engineers, and RAF transport, with the Royal Engineers responsible for survey. The map offers a revealing glimpse into British Cold War operational planning and training shortly before the island’s transition to an insurgency theatre. Since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus, the map area is divided between Greek southern Cyprus and Turkish northern Cyprus, with the UN Green line running horizontally across the map.
Size 64 x 90 cm | 25.0 x 35.0 inches
Date Published: April 1953
Type: Mid 20th century British military operational map, marked Restricted/Declassified
Author: Geographical Section, General Staff
Publication: Geographical Section, General Staff
Condition: Good |
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