Where to sell WW1 Trench Maps Collection?
Where to buy and sell WW1 British Army Trench Maps?
We are always happy to buy single WWI trench maps or collections of British Army trench maps from the Great War for cash. So, if you are looking where to sell your Gallipoli trench maps, Arras trench maps, Ypres trench maps or Somme trench maps including areas such as High Wood, Serre, Guillemont, Fricourt, Ovillers, Pozieres, Courcellete, Albert, Bapaume, Grandcourt, Guedecourt, Longneval, Flers, Le Sars, Mametz, Thiepval, Maricourt, Montauban or Contalmaison, please just email us a few photos of what you have for sale to sales@britishmilitarybadges.co.uk . Alternatively click here for our purchasing page.
Where to sell WW1 trench maps?
We are the best place to sell your WW1 trench maps as we offer a quick, easy and fair way to get rid of your collection for the best price. We have this week just purchased a large collection of British Army 1914-1918 War maps, including many linen and paper trench maps of 1:5,000, 1:10,000 and 1:20,000 scale which we will be listing for sale in our WW1 Militaria category today! It is a comprehensive collection of trench which were inherited by a family after the collector had sadly passed on and they wished to find these maps and documents a good home for a top price. We are happy to pay in cash for any trench maps you may have, so get in touch with us if you have something to sell.
Collecting First World War Trench Maps.
With an estimated 34 million maps printed covering the Western Front during the War, there are plenty of opportunities to add to any collection. The subject spans time and geographical locality which can thus be extended to cover virtually any period of time in any theatre of the War where British Troops fought. The Western Front was by 1917 fully covered at both of the main scales used by the fighting forces - 1:20,000 and 1:10,00. Though not produced on a large scale until between late 1915 and early 1916, editions were continually updated reflecting changes due to military situation up until the end of the War (though mobile warfare, experienced after August 1918, significantly reduced the call for 1:10,000 as advancing troops quickly cleared the map area covered).
Printing of large map runs were made by the Ordnance Survey Department at Southampton though after the formation of Field Survey Companies in early 1916 the printing or overprinting of regular series and special sheets was performed by them. Specially produced maps provide an interesting variation to the regular series and were produced by Headquarters from Brigade level up according to the needs of their units. These maps were printed to support local trench operations where specific details e.g., a creeping barrage or the position of enemy posts or defences, and often required a larger scale e.g., 1:5,000.
1:20,00 maps were extensively used by medium and heavy artillery units and were often overprinted with additional detail for the work required. From early 1915 these started to show trench systems and their defences including barbed wire and sometimes, greater detail e.g., machine gun posts, this information being plotted from aerial photographs. From the start British trench systems, if shown, were printed in blue though they generally only showed an approximate Front line position up to 1916 when ordinary editions were permitted to show British systems up to about 200 yards depth, enemy information was shown in red. In mid-1918 the colours were reversed to conform with French practice and British positions were shown in blue, German in red. The 1:10,000 scale was principally used by infantry and their supporting field artillery. Smaller scale maps e.g., 1:40,000 did not generally include trench details but showed greater area, more useful to back area units fulfilling their functions.
While millions of maps were produced the unrequired earlier, rarer editions were destroyed when returned to the depot. Those copies that survived and available on the current market tend to be as a result of individuals retaining their copies and bringing them home. This adds another dimension to the collector as they may well bear the operational hand markings indicating objectives, advance routes machine gun posts etc. relating to the action the unit was involved in. Other maps were specifically tailored by units or individuals to assist their operations behind the British lines e.g., water pipelines, traffic direction relating to the roads behind Corps or Army area and maps used for railway construction.
This article is intended to provide only a thumbnail sketch on First World War Maps and collecting possibilities. Various books have been produced that provide a greater in-depth study, in particular Peter Chasseaud (whose works have been referred to in writing this article) has produced a number of publications on the subject.
Please view our current stock of trench maps in our WW1 Militaria category and don’t forget to contact us if you have a trench map or collection of maps you wish to sell. We buy many WW1 & WW2 military maps, WW2 silk escape maps, Gallipoli trench maps, Arras, Ypres and the Somme trench maps each month and we are always happy to pay CASH for anything you might have.
