București (Bucharest) – British War Office Army/Air Map, G.S.G.S. 2758, Second Edition, 1945

Description:

An original British War Office military and air-navigation map of Romania and the lower Danube region, issued as North L.35 and part of L.34 in the Europe 1:1,000,000 series, G.S.G.S. 2758. This is the Second Edition, Army/Air Style, revised and photolithographed by the Ordnance Survey in 1945.

Centred upon București (Bucharest), the sheet covers almost the whole of Romania together with adjoining areas of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, extending eastwards to the Black Sea and the extensive wetlands and channels of the Danube Delta. The Carpathian Mountains form the dominant physical feature through the centre and north of the map, while the lower Danube crosses the southern portion before reaching its delta and the Black Sea.

The map provides a detailed representation of the region’s wartime transport and communications infrastructure. Major and secondary roads, railway lines, rivers, canals, towns, administrative boundaries and relief are clearly delineated, with waterways strongly emphasised in blue and international boundaries in red and black. Important centres include Bucharest, Constanța, Brașov, Cluj and Iași, alongside numerous smaller towns and transport junctions.

The Army/Air Style was designed for combined ground and aviation use, providing rapid recognition of communications, terrain and prominent geographical features at a strategic scale. Relief is shown by contours, spot heights and altitude information, while the lower margin retains the original distance scales, positional-reference instructions, adjoining-sheet diagram and multilingual glossary of Romanian, Russian, Bulgarian and Yugoslav geographical terms.

G.S.G.S. 2758 was one of the principal British strategic mapping series used across Europe during the Second World War. This 1945 edition is particularly significant because Romania had undergone a dramatic strategic transformation during the previous year. Following the overthrow of Ion Antonescu in August 1944, Romania changed sides and joined the Allied war effort against Germany. By the time this revised sheet appeared, Soviet forces occupied much of eastern Europe and the political settlement of post-war Romania was already taking shape.

The sheet consequently records the geography of Romania at an important transitional moment between the Second World War and the emerging post-war Soviet sphere. It also predates later changes to communications, settlement and infrastructure across the country.

A substantial and detailed British military map of Romania, Bucharest, the Carpathians, lower Danube and Black Sea coast, combining strong geographical interest with a direct connection to Allied wartime and immediate post-war strategic mapping.

Condition

Very good. Original issue folds with light handling and creasing, principally along the horizontal folds. Minor marginal wear and a couple of small marks to the lower right margin. The cartographic field remains complete, clean and highly legible, with strong original blue, red, violet and black printing.

Title: București (Bucharest)
Publisher: War Office
Series: Europe 1:1,000,000 – G.S.G.S. 2758
Sheet: North L.35 and part of L.34
Edition: Second Edition, Army/Air Style
Date: 1945
Revision: Revised and photolithographed by Ordnance Survey, 1945
Scale: 1:1,000,000
Size: 64.1 × 88.5 cm
Format: Colour-printed military and air-navigation map
Location: Tube D: Europe
Inventory Number: 004117

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