Soviet Military Maps of
I have been researching the history of the Soviet
global mapping project and, in particular, the large scale plans of British and
Irish towns and cities produced from 1950s to 1990. These are of astonishing accuracy and contain
an amazing level of detail, especially considering they were compiled under
great secrecy during the Cold War.
The stories were published in Sheetlines, the
journal of The Charles Close
Society and you can download them below.
Uncle Joe Knew Where You Lived (part one) was published in
Sheetlines 72 (April 2005)
Download PDF
version or DOC version
This provides a brief overview of the history and
scope Soviet global mapping, a description of the seven scales of maps of UK
and Ireland and an explanation of the print codes. (‘Uncle
Joe’ was the nickname given to Joseph Stalin by Western propaganda during World
War 2)
Uncle Joe Knew Where You Lived (part two) was published in
Sheetlines 73 (August 2005)
Download PDF
version or DOC version
This tells the story of the discovery of the Soviet
maps in Latvia in 1993 and describes the actions of KGB spies in Sweden. There is a detailed examination of the large
scale town plans to try to establish how they were created and whether the
Ordnance Survey were justified in claiming that they contravene Crown
Copyright.
Soviet Military Mapping published in Sheetlines
74, December 2005
This is an edited transcript of a paper presented
by David Watt at the Study Day. Here he
describes the history of the Russian Military Topographic Directorate (VTU)
from 1812 to the present day and provides some astonishing statistics of the
volume of world mapping they have produced.
Study Day Report published in Sheetlines 74, December 2005
Download PDF version or DOC
version
This contains an assessment by military
intelligence expert Henry Dodds of the strategic importance of the maps during
the Cold War era and speculation about how events could have evolved at that
time. There is also more evidence on the
source of the content of the UK town plans and an examination of the question
of copyright, concluding that it is unlikely that the town plans do infringe
Crown Copyright.
Exhibition Guide
October 2005
Describes, with illustrations, the exhibits which
were displayed at the Study Day, including several which are referred to in the
above report.
Recent Discoveries published in Sheetlines 77,
December 2006
Download PDF version or DOC
version
Some updated and additional information
Ordnance Survey Copyright Statement dated September
1997
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