New Page 1

This is a new product on the Great War cartography scene and far surpasses any other product available at the moment in both use and scale. Presently containing the princely amount of 750 maps (the vast majority of which are trench maps) in 1:10,000 scale (though a few 1:5,000 scale are thrown in for good measure). Most maps come from the regular series of trench maps with both Standard and Secret editions in good supply, but there are also a nice amount of others such as link maps (very useful) and a variety of special sheets. The area covered by the maps supplied encompasses the whole of the Belgian coast down to south of the River Somme, covering the whole of the 1915-16/17 frontline, the advances of 1917 to the east and the Hindenburg line battles of 1918. The German advances of 1918 are also well covered for the northern region and many rear area maps ,for both the British and German rear are included. These are especially interesting for the location of airfields, encampments, gun batteries, etc. Most British battles of the Western front from the Autumn of 1915 to the autumn of 1918 are covered by maps of relevant dates.

With, sometimes, up to 11 or 12 different editions of the same map (some with dates spanning late 1915 to mid 1918), there is a huge choice of maps available where it is possible to see even the most minor of fluctuations in the trench lines. Though it's not "the" complete archive of all regular maps produced (an impossibility to obtain?) an archive of this size makes it almost certain that a relevant map for whatever date, or research, or interest will be found on this DVD.

Not just a simple archive of trenchmaps, Linesman could be described as an "interactive archive". Whereas all digitized trenchmap archives to date (has there been more than one released yet?) are simply that - an archive (click on a particular map on a list of maps and receive the image) that usually contains only a fraction of the amount of maps to be found on Linesman - where Linesman differs is in some of it's more unique features. One of these features is in the fact that rather than having to search for a particular map when trying to trace a place that is just off the map being currently viewed, all that is needed is to double click on the continuation point and the next map appears. The map that appears isn't necessarily the correct edition required, but another couple of mouse clicks brings up the list of available editions for that particular map on which clicking on the date required brings up the correct map. This feature, though seemingly such a minor point, makes viewing the maps unbelievably smooth.

Working hand-in-hand with "Memory Map" (of which their product that contains all the IGN 1:25,000 scale modern maps for Nord, Picardy and Champagne Ardennes along with a 1;250,000 scale and 1:1,000,000 scale road map of the whole of France comes with the Linesman package), all the features available from them are also compatible with Linesman. This makes it possible to mark out trenchlines (main frontlines and major trenches are already marked with a trench overlay that can be turned on or off as desired), put markers on certain positions, outline certain areas, etc on trenchmaps and then view these locations on a trenchmap of another date, see their locations on a modern map or even on a modern aerial photograph. Another Memory Map feature integrated into Linesman is the "3D World" feature whereby an image of an area of map (be it a trenchmap, modern IGN or aerial photo) can be viewed in 3D making it possible to see the lay of the land as it is in real life*. This view can be rotated and manipulated to see it from various heights and angles and the lighting altered to make use of shadow to emphasise certain features. Some trenchmaps have also been converted into relief trenchmaps by Greatwardigital where all the dips and rises, etc can be seen wthout having to read or understand the contours (the normal maps for these are also on the disc). *please note that the Memory Map IGN and 3D World features are presently only available for France - these features for Belgium are currently in the pipeline.

One of the major attractions of Linesman is it's GPS compatibility. All the trenchmaps have been geo-referenced and, with a suitable satellite navigation system (be it on a laptop or a PDA) it's possible to see exactly where you are in relation to a given feature on a trenchmap. Downloading maps from PC to PDA couldn't be simpler - done in a couple of mouse clicks. Accuracy of this GPS system is very impressive, but it must be borne in mind that it's only as accurate as the trenchmap being used (1918 maps being far more accurate than 1915 maps for example). For this reason accuracy can seem to be anything from spot on to about 8 meters out , but, in general, the majority of maps show no more than a 1 or 2 meter discrepancy.

Upgrades and add-ons have been promised for the future with Greatwardigital currently working on a disc of British 1:20,000 scale trenchmaps. They are also attempting to get license for the use of modern Belgian NGI maps and aerial photos to bring the Belgian trenchmap usability in line with that of the French maps and are also having talks about the French trenchmap archives being opened to them in order to continue Linesman beyond the Somme and down to Verdun and beyond.

All in all, Linesman is one hell of an impressive system that is only going to improve with time (improve on perfection?). When future plans are in place, this system will be , perhaps, the most complete picture and archive of Great War trench cartography available anywhere on the planet. What makes it even more attractive is the fact that this archive will be available at the fingertips of anyone who has it and, with it's compatibility with PDAs, it's possible to carry vast chunks of this archive around in your pocket! For any serious student of the Great War, military historians, researchers, tour companies, regimental archives, local history researchers, etc etc, this product is an absolute must.

For further information , orders and contacts, see Greatwardigital's website at www.greatwardigital.com