Trieste-Budapest and Vienna-Cracow evacuation map

published 1953.
silk, size 59 × 85 cm

A double-sided map, first issued by the British War Office in 1915. This type of map was used, among other things, by RAF fighter squadron aviators in case they were shot down over enemy territory.
Silk maps were part of the escape package provided to the pilot. These maps had to be thin enough to be tucked into a shoe or coat lining, durable enough to survive wear and tear in the field, but at the same time detailed enough for fleeing soldiers to use them to find their way in unknown terrain.
state of preservation: 5