Sofiya–İstanbul (Sofia–Constantinople) – British War Office Army/Air Map, G.S.G.S. 2758, 1946

Description:

An original British War Office military and air-navigation map of Sofia, Istanbul, the southern Balkans, Thrace and the Sea of Marmara, issued as North K.35 and part of K.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 1946.

The map covers an extensive and strategically important region extending from Sofia and southern Bulgaria across Macedonia and Thrace to Istanbul, with parts of northern Greece, Albania, Yugoslavia, Romania and north-western Turkey also represented. The Black Sea, Sea of Marmara, Bosporus, Dardanelles and northern Aegean form a particularly prominent part of the sheet, placing the map at the geographical junction between Europe and Asia.

Istanbul is shown under the dual designation İstanbul (Constantinople), while Sofia is similarly given as Sofiya (Sofia). Other important centres and regions include Edirne, Tekirdağ, Gallipoli, Thessaloniki, Plovdiv, Burgas and the surrounding Balkan and Turkish territories. Roads, railways, settlements, rivers, lakes, ports, administrative boundaries and relief are represented in considerable detail.

The Army/Air treatment was specifically designed to increase the map’s usefulness for military aviation and strategic planning. Routes and communications are strongly emphasised, water features are clearly printed in blue and selected relief information is picked out for rapid interpretation. The lower margin retains the original height scales, distance scales, positional-reference instructions, adjoining-sheet diagram and extensive multilingual glossary covering Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek, Romanian, Turkish and Yugoslav geographical terms.

A particularly interesting feature is the prominent depiction across the Sea of Marmara of the “European Layer System” and “Asiatic Layer System”, reflecting the joining of separately derived European and Asian cartographic frameworks at Istanbul. This provides an unusually visible reminder of the way British military mapping systems were assembled across the boundary between two major geographical survey traditions.

The map belongs to the long-established G.S.G.S. 2758 Europe 1:1,000,000 series, one of the principal small-scale British military mapping programmes used during the Second World War and its immediate aftermath. Earlier wartime states of the Sofia–Istanbul sheet were produced during the conflict; the present 1946 Second Edition incorporates subsequent revision by the Ordnance Survey.

Its subject is especially strong. The Bosporus and Dardanelles were among the most strategically important waterways in Europe, controlling maritime access between the Black Sea and Mediterranean. The sheet therefore brings together the Balkans, Turkey, Istanbul and the Turkish Straits within a single large-format military map produced at the beginning of the post-war period.

A substantial and visually impressive British military map of south-eastern Europe and north-western Turkey, particularly relevant to the history of military cartography, aviation, the Balkans, Istanbul and the strategically important Turkish Straits.

Condition

Very good. Original issue folds with general handling and creasing, particularly along the principal horizontal folds, together with minor marginal wear and small edge irregularities consistent with use and storage. The cartographic field remains complete and highly legible, with strong original colour and no significant loss.

Title: Sofiya–İstanbul (Sofia–Constantinople)
Publisher: War Office
Series: Europe 1:1,000,000 – G.S.G.S. 2758
Sheet: North K.35 and part of K.34
Edition: Second Edition, Army/Air Style
Date: 1946
Revision: Revised and photolithographed by Ordnance Survey, 1946
Scale: 1:1,000,000
Size: 62.9 × 98.5 cm
Format: Colour-printed military and air-navigation map
Location: Tube D: Europe
Inventory Number: 004116

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