I have had for some time a German map of the british east coast from Felixstowe to the North Foreland and includes the mouth of the Thames.

It appears to be waterproofed and details sea depth as well as coastal towns, railways and roads.

Can anyone help me identify it's probable use. I've always thought it might have been from an E-boat.



The image above is of the top left hand corner.

Many thanks

Ian

British World War 2 Invasion Defence Remains

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“This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be.” Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks commander of British XXX Corps September 16, 1944 prior to Operation Market.

Sorry I can't help identify the map. I am sure someone on here can.

I would love to see the entire map. Do you have it posted on a photo server anywhere?

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PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF. GEORGE ORWELL

here's full size.

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“This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be.” Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks commander of British XXX Corps September 16, 1944 prior to Operation Market.

Well, looking at the map I would have to go with you on the E-boat theory. It is definitly a nautical themed map. It is on a small scale which would go with a unit that has to operate in a specific region for an operation.

Are the circles with the dots in them bouys? I cannot read the picture well enough to try and translate it on the web.

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PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF. GEORGE ORWELL

yes the circles appear to be navigation buoys. I'm surprised there's no indication of minefields, but possibly there were supplementary charts that covered this.

I've had to reduce the quality so the file size isn't too large, but if there's any areas you want specific detail on let me know.

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“This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be.” Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks commander of British XXX Corps September 16, 1944 prior to Operation Market.

I may have missed it, or maybe I don't recognize it due to my lack of German language skills, is there a date reference or something that tells you specifically that this is a military map from WWII?

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PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF. GEORGE ORWELL

The only clue to it being WW2 is at the bottom left of the map. The english translation is something like "Published by the General Staff of the Luftwaffe 7th April 1942"

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“This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be.” Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks commander of British XXX Corps September 16, 1944 prior to Operation Market.

I've just had a reply from Prinz Eugen E-Boat Site

"Hi Ian

Thanks for the note. I've always associated the yellow rubberized maps with Luftwaffe use, however its interesting that this one would be so detailed as to water depths, and buoys, and not be LW marked.

About the only piece of definitive information I can give you, is the yellow color was intended to illuminate the map under UV light, leaving the rest of the cockpit in darkness. I don't know if Schnellboote would have UV lighting in the navigation cabin, its an interesting question though! I'll keep it in mind in my research.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
Sincerely,
Dave"

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“This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be.” Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks commander of British XXX Corps September 16, 1944 prior to Operation Market.

That is odd that it would be published by the Luftwaffe if it was so detailed in water depth. It is also odd that it would have so many land details well beyond the coastline for the use of the Kreigsmarine.

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PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF. GEORGE ORWELL

indeed a rarity in which I would love a zerox copy of..........you have a Luftw. recon navigational map. the recon working closely with KM small based units, could easily be FW 200 Kondor or even the stealth FAGr 5 Ju 290 unit.

many thanks for sharing this, can you pull u even some closer details for us to visualize ?

oooooooooops ; took a better look at this fine detailed map, nope, U-boots verboten ! most likely small twin-engines for dropping of air mines to plug-block the estuaries and any areas leading in and out. Even single to three engine Lufw. air-maritime units

neat stuff

Many thanks Erich, fascinating stuff. Can you give me any idea what units and aircraft types would have been involved?

Its too big to xerox, but I can send you a better quality jpeg. Let me know your email via the messaging.

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“This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be.” Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks commander of British XXX Corps September 16, 1944 prior to Operation Market.

Because it is a Luftwaffe map, it is very likely intended for use in dropping air mines and pressure / magnetic mines in particular. For this the water depth is relevant as these mines do not work beyond a certain depth of water. Given that the map centers on Sheerness, a major RN base, this use is very likely. Why it is waterproof escapes me. Possibly it is one of those peculiar German quirks of being thorough that casued its manufacture in that manner.

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Truth is stranger than bullshit!