GSGS Restricted Cold War silk escape/evasion map—N-H-38—Basra—Baghdad—Iraq 1953
£280
SKU: P-6-111581
'Basra — Restricted— Eighth Edition – GSGS— Asia 1:1,000,000— North H-38 // Baghdad — Restricted— Fifth Edition – GSGS— sheet ref North I-38— Asia 1:1,000,000'
A Cold War-era silk escape map—Restricted—Basra // Baghdad—issued by the Geographical Section General Staff, War Office, in the early 1950s. Fabric escape-and-evasion maps were developed during the Second World War by the British military intelligence organisation MI9, notably under the direction of Christopher Clayton Hutton. A prolific inventor of devices for covert military and espionage use, Hutton is also thought to have been one of the inspirations for Ian Fleming’s conception of Q Branch. Printed on both sides of rayon cloth, such maps were durable, silent in use, and easily concealed. Originally issued to airmen for use if shot down behind enemy lines, they were later also supplied to Special Forces. The present example covers one of the most strategically important theatres in the British Middle East series: one side maps Basra, the Shatt al-Arab, Kuwait, and the northern Gulf littoral; the reverse covers Baghdad and the Tigris-Euphrates heartland of Iraq. Its continued operational relevance is underscored by the fact that this edition of the map was issued to SAS units during the 1991 Gulf War, when more up-to-date fabric maps were reportedly unavailable; the map is mentioned in Andy McNab’s Bravo Two Zero, and illustrated in Peter Ratcliffe’s Eye of the Storm.
Size 62 x 71 cm | 24.0 x 28.0 inches
Date Published: 1953
Type: Cold War era double-sided GSGS silk fabric escape and evasion map
Author: War Office
Publication: War Office
Condition: Good |
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