Title: Derna-Bardia—WW2—Secret—Operation Crusader—Place names code #3—1 Dec 1941 map Description: Sitrop Map Sheet 2: Derna—Bardia—Secret—Map Illustrating Place Names Code No. 3 [MDR 542/630—WDR/Misc/1182]. This “SECRET” overprinted sheet covers the coastal strip from Derna eastwards past Tobruk to Bardia, extending inland across the desert escarpment toward the Egyptian frontier. Issued as Place Names Code Map No. 3, it standardised spellings and grid references for operational reporting—vital in a theatre where inconsistent transliterations and sparse topographical features complicated navigation and intelligence. The numbering suggests a revised iteration; the periodic alteration of code names was intended to frustrate German signals interception. The overprint date, 1 December 1941, places the sheet at a decisive moment in the Western Desert Campaign during Operation Crusader (18 November–December 1941). Launched by the British Eighth Army to relieve the besieged garrison at Tobruk and destroy Rommel’s Panzergruppe Afrika, the offensive culminated in fierce mobile fighting around Sidi Rezegh in late November. By 1 December the battle had reached a turning point: Axis forces were overextended and short of fuel following Rommel’s counterstroke toward the Egyptian frontier, while British formations regrouped after heavy tank losses. Tobruk had been relieved only days earlier. The geography shown here formed the operational core of the campaign. Tobruk—centrally placed on the sheet—was the hinge of the front. Coastal roads and desert tracks plotted on the map were indispensable to the armoured manoeuvre warfare conducted across vast, waterless terrain. Issued at the height of fluid desert operations, this overprint captures the battlespace at the moment the initiative was shifting away from Rommel—an evocative documentary survival from one of the most dynamic phases of the Western Desert Campaign. . Reproduced by South African Survey Coy. S.A.E.C. Overprinted by 514 Fd. Svy. Coy. R.E.. Published 1 December 1941. World War Two Western Desert Campaign Secret military map with code names. Manually numbered copy no 93. Size 49 x 62 cm | 19.5 x 24.5 inches. Condition: Good; suitable for framing. Please check the scan for any blemishes prior to making your purchase. Please contact us if you would like to arrange to view this map. This is a folding map. There is nothing printed on the reverse side, which is plain. Tags: 1941, Egypt, Libya, Map, Middle East, Second World War, South African Survey Coy. S.A.E.C., War Office
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