The Western Front Association was formed with the aim of furthering interest in the period 1914-1918. We also aim to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who served their countries in France and Flanders and their own countries during The Great War.
Through the work of the Association we do not seek to justify or glorify war. We are not a re-enactment society, nor are we commercially motivated. We are entirely non-political. The object of The Association is to educate the public in the history of The Great War with particular reference to the Western Front.
Applications for membership are welcomed from anyone with a like mind.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 August 2008 22:26 )
Mapping the Front
Written by Martin Hornby
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 09:07
The Western Front Association
in partnership with
The Imperial War Museum
The Western Front Association, together with the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London, is involved in a joint project to produce a series of DVDs of trench maps and aerial photographs from the IWM archives. This project, called Mapping the Front, aims to create a set of themed DVDs of Great War maps and photographs covering significant and interesting aspects of The Great War. The quality of the maps will allow high resolution and colour depth images as good as the originals. The DVDs will be themed by area with maps of different scales detailing the changes to landscape over months and years.
Locations will include the Somme, Ypres, Arras, Lens & Loos, Gallipoli, etc. Other themes will also include Cemeteries on the Western Front, Haig's personal maps, cartography, transport, tanks, artillery, light railways and many others.
Each themed DVD will contain:
a) Maps. b) Aerial photographs (where available). c) A standard set of index maps. d) Help on how to read the military maps of the period. e) Other contemporary and modern documents of relevance or interest such as the ‘Report on Survey on the Western front, 1914-1918’. (1)
This Mapping project involves the scanning of the whole of the IWM's collection of Trench and Great War maps. To date 6,000 maps and 1000+ photographs have been scanned in high resolution. We hope to be able to publish the majority over the coming months. The first 6 DVD's in the collections are: Ypres - This double DVD set contains maps and photographs relating to Army map sheet area 28. The Official History Maps - This single DVD contains the Official History Maps. General Haig's Maps - This single DVD contains a quantity of Haig's Artillery Maps. The Somme squares 57C & 57D – This double DVD set contains maps and photographs relating to the northern and middle parts of the battlefield. The Somme squares 62C & 62D – This single DVD contains maps and photographs relating to the southern part of the battlefield. Gallipoli – This single DVD contains 300+ maps of Gallipoli and the water colour “Sketches made at ANZAC” by Sapper H Moore-Jones NZ Engineers.
WFA MEMBERS £20.00 per title* + p&p. Non members £25.00 per title + p&p. Postage: UK - £1.50 - Europe £2.00 - Rest of the World £2.50 * Same for 1 or 2 disc sets Allow 28 days for delivery.
NB Please see the viewing instructions for details of how to view the maps, at the end of this article.
The discs are readable on almost all computers regardless of operating system, so Vista, Windows XP, Mac, eeepc, linux based machines etc. are fine. The reason is that no specific software is required, the discs contain images file and users are expected to have sufficient knowldege to open and view such files. For convenience, a copy of erviewer is on each disc, the latest version of this file viewer is also available free of charge from www.ermapper.com. Thet have kindly given us permission to include their software, but please take careful note of the viewing instructions.
Although original maps from the Great War have been available for viewing by the public at various locations, the number of high quality maps available for use at home has been very limited. The Mapping the Front project aims to greatly increase the number of maps and aerial photographs available.
In the past, the accent has been to concentrate on the regular 1/10,000 series of trench maps at the expense of other equally interesting maps, but in the words of Colonel E.M. Jack, a key figure in Great War cartography, "The 1/20,000 was the map commonly used by the Artillery, and as trenches could be shown on it in sufficient detail to be of use to the infantry it was the most useful scale of all, and the one that could least easily be dispensed with." * The series of DVDs will include 1/20,000 and 1/10,000 trench maps but will also present 1/5,000, 1/40,000, 1/80,000 and smaller scale maps where these show information not available on the standard trench maps.
In addition, we will present specialised maps such as those showing burials, colloquially known as the "body density" series, normal 1/40,000 maps showing temporary cemeteries and the areas from where the fallen were collected after the war.
Some DVDs will include hand annotated maps of all scales, artillery and machine gun barrage maps showing the planning for a creeping barrage, intelligence maps showing the enemy order of battle, relief maps and even hand drawn maps.
The trench maps were updated from aerial photographs and, where available, examples of these photographs will be presented alongside the relevant map.
Whether your interest in The Great War is family history or serious military research, the Mapping the Front project will provide an excellent and affordable archive from the collections of the Imperial War Museum.
Howard Anderson and Martin Hornby
(1) Report on Survey on the Western Front, 1914-1918, published 1920. This report is included on every DVD.
The WFA in partnership with the Imperial War Museum is pleased to announce that from April 2008 parts of the I.W.M.’s map archive will be available to our members and the general public on DVD.
This Mapping project involves the scanning of the whole of the IWM’s collection of Trench and Great War maps. To date 6,000+ maps and 1000+ photographs have been scanned in high resolution. We hope to be able to publish the majority over the coming months.
The first 6 DVD’s in the collections are:
Ypres - This double DVD set contains maps and photographs relating to Army map sheet area 28.
The Official History Maps - This single DVD contains the Official History Maps.
General Haig's Maps - This single DVD contains a quantity of Haig's Artillery Maps.
The Somme squares 57C & 57D – This double DVD set contains maps and photographs relating to the northern and middle parts of the battlefield.
The Somme squares 62C & 62D – This single DVD contains maps and photographs relating to the southern part of the battlefield.
Gallipoli – This single DVD contains 300+ maps of Gallipoli and the water colour “Sketches made at ANZAC” by Sapper H Moore-Jones NZ Engineers.
WFA MEMBERS £20.00 per title + p&p. Non members £25.00 per title + p&p. Postage per DVD: UK - £1.50 - Europe £2.00 – Rest of the World £2.50
Allow 28 days for delivery.
We envisage that in total there will be 12 to 14 titles in the complete set. See overleaf for details of future titles.
You can make your purchase using a Credit Card (not AMEX) by telephoning the WFA Office.
Postal purchases can be made using a UK Cheque (Made out to THE WESTERN FRONT ASSOCIATION)
or using a credit card.
Write to:
Mapping the Front The Western Front Association PO Box 1918 Stockport SK4 4WN
WFA Office Tel + 44 (0)161 443 1918
Membership Number……………………
Please use this form for ordering by POST
NUMBER OF TITLES REQUIRED
Title
Number
YPRES
..........
OFFICIAL HISTORY MAPS
..........
GENERAL HAIG'S MAPS
..........
THE SOMME 57C & 57D
..........
THE SOMME 62C & 62D
..........
GALLIPOLI
..........
Credit Card Orders
Title (Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Rank) ..........................
The WFA website has been re-designed and was re-launched in July 2008. We will feature much more content, articles, images and other information about The Great War in the coming months. We hope to expand our mapping links, and to share publicly-available video content whenever we can.
The most recent development is an Events database, available from the main menu above. Here you will find a comprehensive list of events submitted to the WFA Web Editor, including Branch Events, WFA regional and national events, and relevant national and international events announced by other organisations which are of interest to our members and website visitors. You can search on event hosts, on venues, and by time. In September, we hope to be able to provide for WFA Branch officials to submit and maintain their own forthcoming Branch events. You can also see this month's and next month's events from two calendars on the home page.
We have also launched the WFA Online Book and DVD Store in association with Amazon UK. The WFA earns a small commission from each sale of books, DVDs, and any other materials through the Online Store and these earnings contribute to the work of the WFA. Please support the WFA by making your book, DVD and CD purchases through our online store.
Very soon, we will launch our "Front Forum" where users of the website can exchange views and discuss topics relevant to The Western Front Association and to all aspects of The Great War. This will have a separate registration process to the website.
Also upcoming in September will be the ability to join, or renew your membership of, the WFA online.
If you have any comments you wish to share about our Education provision, please don't hesitate to get in touch with our Web Editor or our Education Officer.
We welcome contributions and ideas from all visitors to the site.
Please feed back any technical comments about the website to the Web Manager.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 August 2008 22:40 )
Joining the WFA
Written by Editor
Friday, 06 June 2008 12:23
WFA members are involved in many different aspects of 'Remembering', ranging from their own research into family, military or social history, through the maintenance of memorials and visiting battlefield sites, to writing or giving talks about The Great War conflict.
The WFA has a great camaraderie, with members - some of whom are real subject-matter experts - sharing information, and perpetuating the memory of 1914-18 and The Great War through education and learning. We would be delighted to welcome you as a member.
Benefits of membership
New Members' welcome pack
Three copies per year of our high-quality journal, 'Stand-To!'
Three copies per year of our in-house magazine, 'Bulletin'.
Access to Branded Commodities.
Access to our renowned collection of trench maps - all available on DVD.
A right to vote and stand for election at both Branch and Association level.
Becoming a member
Joining the Association could not be easier. Once you have completed the process your benefits will start immediately. Subscriptions vary depending on where you live in the world, as our primary cost is the production and mailing of the journals from the UK. Currently you can join or renew your membership through this website by printing a form and posting it to the WFA Office. Soon you will be able to join online.
General Membership Contact / WFA Office
If you have any enquiries please contact our Membership Administrator via the Contact Us section. Alternatively, you can write to:
The Western Front Association
PO Box 1918
STOCKPORT
SK4 4WN
United Kingdom
The Western Front Association was formed with the aim of furthering interest in the period 1914-1918. We also aim to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of all those who served their countries in France and Flanders and their own countries during The Great War.
Some DVDs will include hand annotated maps of all scales, artillery and machine gun barrage maps showing the planning for a creeping barrage, intelligence maps showing the enemy order of battle, relief maps and even hand drawn maps.
WFA members are involved in many different aspects of 'Remembering', ranging from their own research into family, military or social history, through the maintenance of memorials and visiting battlefield sites, to writing or giving talks about The Great War conflict.