Prepared in 1946, this volume was designed for succeeding generations of Royal Engineers who would visit the battlefields of Europe after the war. Its purpose was to demonstrate the problems faced by the Royal Engineers in the major campaigns of the Second World War and the problems they used to solve them. The operations chosen for inclusion in this tour were done so because they were regarded as typical examples of engineering tasks.Â
What was Geographical Section, General Staff (GSGS)?
Geographical Section, General Staff (GSGS, also known as MI 4) operated under the Director of Military Operations and Intelligence. Its role was to supply maps to the forces, collect data on foreign survey networks, provide training, and prepare survey data for Expeditionary Force mobilisation.
GSGS was organised into small sections, each of which specialised in maps of a particular region. The War Office Map Library, which was also part of MI 4, acquired maps and cartographic intelligence data.
Senior staff members were usually Royal Engineer officers with surveying qualifications, although there were a few Royal Artillery or infantry officers. The rest of the staff were civil technical assistants and clerks, together with some Royal Engineer other ranks.