Produced for the White Cross Insurance Association Ltd. by Geographia. This book contains 64 full coloured maps and war graves index of over 1,700 cemeteries on the Western Front. The publication date of the original edition has always been a question, but is now believed to be circa 1920.
A complex process of clearing the battlefields and concentration of smaller cemeteries into larger cemeteries continued long after the Great War of 1914-1918 was over. Many of the cemeteries mapped in this book now no longer exist, and some of the newer cemeteries are not listed. Researchers will need to determine which cemetery is shown “the old or the new”, such as in the case of the Irish Farm Cemetery near Ypres, Belgium.
The White Cross Insurance Association Ltd was established in 1906 as the Red Cross Indemnity Assurance Company. The company was the first to calculate motor premiums based on the horse power, age, and type of vehicle. In February 1912, the company was renamed the White Cross Insurance Association Ltd following the Hague Convention and legal limitations placed on the use of the red cross symbol and the words “red cross”. In May 1914, the Association was acquired by the Northern Assurance Company Ltd