21 AG British Situation Maps

As per title i'm looking for 21 AG British Situation Maps Normandy onwards.

I've found some Canadian and American produced ones:

http://www.canadahistory.com/sections/maps/military/WWII
http://www.loc.gov/collection/world-war-ii-maps-military-situation-maps-from-1944-to-1945/about-this-collection/#overview (mainly 12 AG by the looks of it).
Hyperwar/ibiblio has the occasional one as well.

All of the 21 AG maps i have found seem to be contemporary maps without reference to sources compiled from or very general sketch maps. I cant help feeling it would be beneficial to look at the same maps they were at the time. At the moment i have to have half a dozen different maps scattered about the place to be able to find the places named in my reading, the topography and then the movements/positions of forces involved. Its all a bit trying.

I cant seem to find any British produced situation maps online. The Imperial war museum have 0 maps from ww2 availble to view. Kew national archives says they dont have anything equivalent to the trench maps of ww1. Not sure if that means they dont exist or whether they are jammed in a cardboard box in a corner of kew national archives or are now copyrighted by a company who will charge a ferocious amount for a copy. Maybe someone can shed some light on where they might be found though....? Im sure im not the first to be looking,

Maybe im missing the military term for these maps which is why the searches are coming up short....

Any help appreciated.

James

 

There are lots of situation maps in Kew. If you visit you can take a picture.

 

Thanks sheldrake. Good to know they weren't burnt at least. I'm still cheekily hoping that someone had already taken care of the visiting, the photography and the digitization. Trip to Kew is unaffordable at the moment unless i walk from Birmingham and convince them to let me pitch a tent in Kew gardens..

Certainly a project ill bear in mind if they really haven't dribbled out of the archives yet.

 

J2H,
It might be worth an ask on sister site WW2Talk, if you haven't already.
Fair few chaps on there spend a lot of time at Kew among British Army records and would quite possibly know more.

21 AG Admin History:
http://www.movcon.org.uk/History/Documents/DID/D-MCHS%200514_page3.htm

Good luck,
~A

 

Thanks VP. Very interesting little link for the logistics. Had never heard of the Advanced Stationery Depots but now you mention it i can see how critical their function must have been. Haven.t really poked about on WW2talk but already found a few mentions of the correct categories at Kew now you've pointed me over there. Some stuff i dug out via searches in case it is of interest to anyone that pops along later:

Categories found by Drew5233:

WO 205/1245 - 21st Army Group: Operation OVERLORD daily maps (1945 Apr 02 - 1945 May 01)
WO 205/972D - An account of the operations of Second Army in Europe: maps 1-18 (August 1945)
WO 205/1097 to WO 205/1106 - Operation Overlord: daily situation maps and order of battle statements for 21 Army Group in North West Europe (6th June 1944 to 1 Apr 1945, 1 month per reference)

None have been digitized by Kew so far by the looks of it. Might give a few people a poke over there and see if there are any unofficial digitizations.

http://www.defencesurveyors.org.uk/Historical/WWII/Maps%20and%20Survey_Contents.htm Gives a huge wealth of information on British maps and survey during WW2 and some lovely original map plates: http://www.defencesurveyors.org.uk/Images/Historical/WWII/Maps%20and%20Surveys_Contents/map-plates.pdf