A.A.F. CLOTH MAP ASIATIC SERIES: No. C 52 & No. C 53. No. C 52 JAPAN & SOUTH CHI

Washington D.C. 1945, Army Map Service U.S. Army. Silk map folds down to ca. 12.5 x 14.5 cm., opens up to 85.5 x 81.5 cm., printed in color on two sides, bright, one tiny margin tear, else clean,two maps in all. * * O B S C U R E * * . *** *** *** . . ORIGINAL WORLD WAR 2 SURVIVAL & EVASION MAP . .SHOWING A VERY LONG EAST COAST OF RUSSIA, GULF OF SAKHALIN, . . TARTARY STRAIGHT, SOUTH DOWN THE COAST, AMUR RIVER, . . VLADIVOSTOK, ALL OF MANCHURIA, KOREA, MUKDEN, HSINKING, . . DAIREN, GULF OF CHILI, BEIJING, SHANGHAI, WEIHAIWEI, . . TSINGTAU, NORTH HOKKAIDO & HONSHU, KURIL ISLANDS, AMOY, . . SWATOW, HONG KONG, MACAO, CANTON, KWANGCHOW, HAINAN, . . YUNNAN, KUNMING, GUILIN, LIUZHOU, NANNING, HANOI, DOWN . . THE COAST TO VIETNAM, LAOS, CAMBODIA, S. HONSHU, KYUSHU, . . TAIWAN, PHILIPPINES, HANGZHOU, SUCHOW, NANKING, NINGBO, . . FOOCHOW, AMOY, OKINAWA & TOO MANY OTHERS TO LIST . . SHOWING GREAT DETAILS: ROADS, RAILROADS AND RIVERS . *** U.S.A.A.F. [United States Army Air Force] issue, one on each side, one sheet = 2 maps. in all, printed in full color. . * No. C-52: JAPAN AND SOUTH CHINA SEAS. Shows Yunnan Fu [Kunming City] in the uppermost left corner at about 24.5 degrees by 103 degrees; then Kweilin [Guilin] at 110 degrees, and Amoy [Xiamen], Shanghai, Nanking [Nanjing], Foochow, and the edge of the Pescadores on the Tropic of Cancer at the north end of the map. . Includes the large operational area of the "FLYING TIGERS," "A.V.G." & the FOURTEENTH AIR FORCE in China. Including important airbase cities: Nanning, Liuzhou, Kweilin & Kunming. . * Below these areas, from the left or extreme west, Laos, Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Saigon, Hanoi [all of Indo-China] Vietnam, down to Paulau Condor [sic] [Paolo Condor] Island and the tip of Vietnam at 8 degrees. Hainan Island, Macao, Hong Kong, up the coast to Shantou. . * No. C-53: EAST CHINA SEAS: Shows Yenchowfu and Changtse upper left, Part of Korea at 35 degrees, Japan from Sendai down to Okinawa, all of Formosa, to the Philippines, Baguio, Manila all of that area, down to Albay. Including Shanghai, Nanjing, Qingdao, Hangzhou, most of the east coast of China, Taiwan & Korea. . * The large inset to the right shows Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Hokkaido, Northern tip of Honshu, Aomori, down to Kanazawa, Choshi at about 36 degrees. The Amur River and much of extreme eastern Russia, Vladivostok down the Pacific coast, Manchuria, Mukden, Korea, Port Arthur [Dairen], Gulf of Chili, Beijing, Paotingfu, down to Suzhou at 34 degrees. Up the coast of the Yellow Sea, Qingdao and that area. . * The back side shows the balance of the map are from the front side. From the left, Tsinan Yenchowfu, Weihaiwei, down the Yellow Sea, along the Pacific coast to Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Taichofu, Wenchow, Funing fu, Lienkong, Fuzhou, Xiamen down to Yunsiaoh, across the Formosa Straits to all of Taiwan [Formosa] South to the Philippines, Bataan, the main island of Luzon, Manila, down to almost 13 degrees south ending at Sorsogon Gubat. The rest of the right [east] portion shows the Marianas Islands, Guam at the extreme lower right, the Ogasawara, Kanzan groups, with Korea at the upper middle from about 37 degrees showing all from Shunsen, Keijo [Seoul], down to Kanra San the southern island. Showing much of Japan from where the other map left off: Sakata on Honshu all of Japan, Shikoku, Kyushu, Tokara Group, the island chains Amami, Okinawa groups, Naha [Ryukyu Islands/Okinawa], down to Taiwan. . *** INSET MAPS: No. C-52: has one very large inset of N. Russia & N. Sakhalin south down to Korea Tsingtau and Chowfu. And Hokkaido, Honshu down to Urawa, 36 degrees south. . A second inset shows the key & legend to lines on the map, currents, winds, scale 1/4,000,000 or 1/4m. heights in meters, with 'Location Index" which is a key and guide to other adjacent maps in this series and this geographical area. . *** All part of the basic combat operation region for the U.S. A.A.F., U.S. Navy war against Japan. With ocean currents noted for possible air crew survival back to land. . * USED BY THE "FLYING TIGERS:" This map and many similar to it were part of the "E & E" survival items issued to "FLYING TIGER" and "A.V.G." ["AMERICAN VOLUNTEER GROUP"] pilots. They were often tied around the neck by pilots and air crew while flying combat missions. . * The map also has an Annual Magnetic Change compass, miles scale, kilometers, nautical miles [1:1,000, 000], altitudes of land mass, legend or key to symbols, roads, towns, cities, rivers, mountains and an index to boundaries. . * This map was part of the U.S. Army Air Force & Naval flyers "E & E" [Escape and Evasion] survival kit , printed on thick silk parachute cloth. These maps were often worn by fighter and other air crew members as scarves to insure they would be with the downed airman if/when his plane or he had to parachute out into the sea or over land. Each air crew member carried among other survival supplies, a .38 caliber pistol, survival knife, a signal mirror [stainless steel or glass], compass and some basic food rations, fishing kit, water purification tablets, along with minor medical supplies; the whole kit was tucked into the pant pocket of the flight suit. . * The majority of these perishable maps have been lost during World War II and very few survived the attrition of war, time, and humid climates. This map was considered the "LAST HOPE" for safe return to Allied lines. Given to fliers in the Pacific war against Japan. . *** Color photos are posted to our website. . * .