WIG Map Archive (English)

Introduction
Allied mapping of Central and Eastern Europe closely follows the outbreeak of WW2 and the “cold war” of 1950s.

Below you will find links to various British maps by the Directorate of the Military Survey, formerly GSGS (Geographical Section General Staff) and American AMS (Army Map Service), which worked in cooperation to produce war-time mapping at various scales. The first stage (1941 - 1943) saw a straight reproduction of German original maps, with Germany covered by a litographic copy from the “Grossblatt” type, GSGS 4081 series at 1:100,000 scale.
Likewise, Poland's coverage at 1:100,000 scale (GSGS 4177) and 1:300,000 (GSGS 4172) series was based on reproductions of corresponding Polish pre-WW2 map series. In the second stage, from 1944 onwards, two main series followed, based on original sources and aerial photography: 1:100,000 (AMS M641 Germany, M651 Poland and M671 Middle Danube), under common British ref. “GSGS 4416 Central Europe”, while the 1:300,000 scale was abandonened to be replaced with various sets of 1:250,000 map, based around “GSGS 4346 Central Europe”.

In 1943, British mapping service, together with WIG cartographers based in Scotland issued a series of 23 “Town Plans of Poland”, ref. GSGS 4435. Some were based on pre-WW2 Polish 1:25,000 maps, others, reproductions of pre-war tourist town plans (Wilno, Lwow, Gdynia, Gdansk). This series, as well as two of the easternmost plans for Germany (Koenigsberg and Breslau), are available here.

The World: political map of the world by AMS (Army Map Service) dated 1944, scale 1:25 milion.
+ The world - 1944 (200 dpi)
+ The world - 1944 (300 dpi)

AMS (Army Map Service), Poland 1:100 000, 400 dpi s. AMS M651 / GSGS 4416
Map series, with sheet equivalent in size to German Grossblatt / Einheitsblatt maps (and also 4 x WIG 1:100,000 maps). This series covered Germany, Poland east to the area of Grodno, the Baltics (partly), Czechoslovakia, Hugary, Austria, and Romania (partly).
The maps were split into three groups: “Germany” (M641 and M641S), “Poland” (M651 and M651S), “Middle Danube” (M671 and M671S), where the “S” letter stands for the variant where altitude is depicted by both contour lines and shades of purple. All those maps series bear common British name of “GSGS 4416 Central Europe”.
Areas of particular interest (industry, Baltic coastline) were also updated from aerial photography taken in 1943 and 1944, but only up to (approx.) mid-central Poland. Details can be found on the bottom right or left margin of individual map sheets.
Due to shared responsibilities, British maps (which different slightly in the appearance from the US sheets) covered 3rd Reich, more or less stopping at the current Polish-German border along the river Odra / Oder; maps further east were produced by the AMS.
Index sheet and available maps`

“GSGS 4346 Central Europe”, 1:250 000 GSGS, 300 and 400 dpi.
British maps covering Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Originally series based on German 1:300,000, black edition of Uebersichtskarte von Mitteleuropa, usually post-1930, and further east, on Polish and Czech maps in 1:300,000 and 1:200,000 scale, plus other road and railway maps of the area.
Index sheet and available maps

POLAND 1:100 000, GSGS 4177, 1941 (1st edition)
Copies, some reproduced in colour by the direct colour separation of the Polish 1:100,000 pre-war series (WIG maps). No revision or British grid. The set includes a block of approx. 210 sheets, mainly from Central Poland, and several dozens sheets (in black-and-white only) covering the area alongside the pre-1939 Polish-Soviet border (see the index sheet below). This is the first (and last) edition of this series, superceded in 1944 by GSGS Central Europe / AMS M671 Poland set, which, however, did go that far east.
+ Index sheet showing the coverage (approx. 2 Mb)
(We will be able to present almost all of the sheets published, by end of 2014)

AMS (Army Map Service), East Prussia 1:50 000 (M752), 400 dpi, 1955-56, Poland 1:50,000 (M751, M753)
A map series based on German 1:25,000 Messtischblatt and Topographische Karte, up to 1944. An interesting mix of old (German) and new (Soviet) place-names, often in US transcription.
Another, adjoining set (M751, M753) continued until mid-1980s, covered Poland, partly in the pre-WW2 and partly in post-WW2 borders. Currently all available sheets can be seen and downloaded via this Mapster index.

Related information: A Wikipedia list of place-names in the Kaliningrad Region (loosely related to “Ostpreussen”) with their former names in German, Polish and Lithuanian. Further links there provide more extensive lists.

Other British and American maps of Europe (and beyond) are available via index sheets and map lists at Mapster.