Google Trench Maps
I’ve just been playing around with the new “My Maps” feature on Google Maps. There are lots of other things I should be doing, but when I saw this post at Mercurius Politicus I just had to try it for myself. So I got out a trench map and came up with this map showing where my great-grandfather was captured by the Germans in December 1916 (I wrote about that in more detail here and here). We’re lucky that the incident was recorded in enough detail to reconstruct it reasonably well. It’s impossible to say exactly where the fight took place, but from the battalion war diary we can narrow it down to a relatively small area (the stretch of road highlighted in green on the map).
My Maps is obviously a very exciting development. It means that anyone can create custom maps with a few clicks rather than having to learn the Google Maps API. It took me less than an hour to make the map. The interface is so intuitive I didn’t need any instructions, I just got on with it. Most of the time was spent trying to trace the trench lines more or less correctly. It was easy for the Germans because their front line is still visible on the satellite photo, and the Z redoubt is a nice distinctive feature. The British trenches were more difficult because they don’t seem to coincide with any visible features. The lines I’ve drawn are only approximate and don’t capture all the twists and turns of the trenches but they give a reasonably good impression of the position.
One improvement that I’d like to see is the ability to place a grid over the map, move it, and change the size of the squares. That would help with tracing lines which don’t follow present day features visible on the map. It’s possible to do this with the line drawing tool but it’s a bit tricky. An automatic grid would make life much easier. Also a tool for measuring distances would be very useful - I found myself holding a ruler up to the screen! - and more fine control over scaling so that it’s easier to get the scale to coincide with a paper map. What would be really good is if someone made a map which overlaid the entire trench map grid onto France and Flanders…
Comment by Gary Smailes — 8:56 am, 28 July 2007 [permanent link to this comment]
I am currently working on a children’s book about the battle of Hastings. As part of my research I tried to reconstruct the events of the battle using Google Maps. I found it a great tool in helping to understanding the events that unfolded. The ability to draw the units on the map is invaluable. Here’s the link.
Comment by Gavin Robinson — 4:41 pm, 28 July 2007 [permanent link to this comment]
It’s interesting to see that the battle is commemorated in the street names.
It would also be nice if the maps had contours, but that would probably be difficult and expensive to add, even for Google.
Comment by Gary Smailes — 5:49 am, 29 July 2007 [permanent link to this comment]
Gavin,
You can add contours using a little free tool contected to My Maps. Click Add Content in the the top right hand corner and you will see it.
Comment by Gavin Robinson — 12:23 pm, 29 July 2007 [permanent link to this comment]
And it’s right near the top of the first page of add-ons. How did I miss it? It’s not perfect but it works reasonably well, so obviously not as difficult as I thought.
Pingback by Britblog Roundup » Anorak News — 10:31 am, 30 July 2007 [permanent link to this comment]
[...] Goes a Long Way and some sunflowers. Finally we visit the Western Front (quiet, isn’t it?) where Investigations of a Dog is using Google Maps to find World War I trenches. Politics It can’t be put off any longer, I am [...]