Original British WWII Double Sided Silk Escape Map of Occupied France & Germany Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an Original WWII British issue 18″ X 22″ Silk Escape Map, as issued to Allied flight crews in WWII. These maps were often sewn into the linings of uniforms to escape detection in the event of being shot down over enemy territory and falling into hostile hands. Most of these that we have seen only have one side, but this has TWO, one showing occupied France, including the entire northern Coast, and the Coast of Germany, showing southwards to Berlin.

Constructed of Silk to withstand water damage and tearing, the has a sewn selvage hem around all four sides to prevent fraying. In addition to cities, principal roadways and railroad lines; Canals and Rivers are also shown with arrows that indicate direction of water flow as such information was invaluable to downed pilots on the run.

The map of France is printed in Black, Green, and Red ink, and is in 1: 2,330,000 scale. It shows the coastal defense areas of France, as well as the boundary between Occupied and Vichy France.

The map of the Berlin Area is a slightly smaller 1:3,000,000 scale, and is printed in black & white. The legend shows borders of 1939 and were then updated to 1941, putting these right in the thick of hostilities. It is marked Air Ministry, No.7330, and this was the best-known Escape Map issued. Sadly very few survived.

This example is in great shape, though for some reason some of the map reference numbers in the corners were blacked out, possibly for security reasons.

This is a great opportunity to have a rare map in your collection! Ready to display!