as-1869
1940: German street plan of North-East London and the Docks before the Blitz
Generalstab des Heeres [German General Staff] :
North-East London [covering and including Stoke Newington, Shoreditch, Hackney, Stepney, Leyton, Stratford, West Ham, Ilford, East Ham, Barking, Canning Town and the Docks]
Berlin: [Department for War Maps and Surveying], 1940.
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A large 1:20000 (about 3 inches to the mile) street plan, 26 inches x 33 inches, 68 cms x 82 cms, folded as issued, of London north of the Thames.
Printed in colour and annotated in German text with military or strategically significant targets or areas.
In nice condition, with a minimal amount of wear on some of the folds.
Following the Battle of Britain in 1940, the Germans postponed their plans for Unternehmen Seelöwe (Operation Sealion), the invasion of Britain by large-scale troop landings along the South Coast. However, whilst abandoning their immediate plans to
invade, the German High Command continued to gather together detailed information to prepare the ground for any future invasion or occupation of Britain.
This scarce street plan of North-east London, dated 7.40 (July 1940), two months before the start of the London Blitz, was issued in Berlin in 1941 as part of Militärgeographische Angaben über England (effectively translating as Military/geographical Report on
England) by Abteilung für Kriegskarten und Vermessungswesen (Department for War Maps and Surveying), and was intended Nur für den Dienstgebrauch (For official use only) by the Generalstab des Heeres (German General Staff).
In short, this street plan of North London is one of a number of confidential documents prepared at the height of the Second World War for the use of high ranking military planners, officers and their immediate staff within the top echelons of the German
war machine in Berlin.
The map has particular resonance with London's East End and Docklands area having been prepared immediately prior to the London Blitz of September 1940 to May 1941. Many of the streets detailed here were virtually obliterated by the Luftwaffe and subsequently were to disappear into history as a consequence of London's post-war rebuilding programme and the later re-development of Docklands.
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© 1890-2010: The Clique, York YO24 1DY, UK. 01904 631752. . Information on old and rare books for 120 years.
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