Secret manuscript First World War trench map 3 Corps Somme offensive 1 July 1916
£3,160
SKU: P-7-028061
[Original Secret Manuscript First World War Western Front Trench map showing the position at Zero Hour on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. III. Corps sector - La Boiselle]
A rare original manuscript First World War operational trench map showing the British III Corps fire line at Zero Hour (7.30 a.m.) on 1 July 1916, prepared for the opening of the Somme Offensive—the bloodiest day in British military history. The map delineates front, support, reserve, and communication trenches around La Boisselle, including Tara Redoubt, Usna Line, Dundee Avenue, Lochnagar Street, and the Lochnagar mine tunnel and crater. These trench names and features fix compilation to the final week of June 1916, immediately before the assault: Tara and Usna Lines were completed in April; Lochnagar Street and the mine galleries were finalised by late June; and Dundee Avenue was among the new assembly trenches dug for the attack itself. Pencil annotations in a different hand—including “Charing Cross” and the precise alignment of the Lochnagar tunnel and crater—were likely added in the field on or soon after Zero Hour, when the Lochnagar mine was fired beneath German positions. Produced in ink on official linen-backed field map paper by draughtsmen of the Topographical Section, General Staff (Royal Engineers Field Survey Company, III Corps). A primary operational document from the fateful morning of 1 July 1916.
Size 63 x 78 cm | 24.5 x 30.5 inches
Date Published: 1st July 1916
Type: Manuscript trench map in coloured ink on linen-backed field map paper, produced under the direction of III Corps for operational use during the Somme offensive.
Author: British Army Topographical Section, General Staff
Publication: British Army Topographical Section, General Staff
Condition: Good |
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