1945 Beaudry III Corps World War II Pictorial Route Map of Europe

This is a 1945 Al Beaudry III Corps World War II pictorial route map of Europe. Highlighting the corps' movements, its successes, and its assigned divisions, this map details wartime events experienced by thousands of soldiers.

A Closer Look

The map follows the progress of the III Corps from its arrival at Cherbourg, France, on August 29, 1944, through its being declared combat-ready at Fort Jeanne d'Arc on December 8, to the end of the war and occupation duty in Bavaria in June 1945. An arrow highlights the Battle of the Bulge (labeled here as Rundstedt's Offensive Dec. 16, 1944). The paths of specific divisions are illustrated using official Army map symbols and black arrows. A circular inset above the Eiffel Tower highlights the operation at Remagen Germany, and the crossing of the Rhine River. The inset marks the Ludendorf Railroad Bridge (remembered by history as the Remagen Bridge), and the treadway, bailey, and pontoon bridges built by the Corps of Engineers after the Ludendorf Bridge was destroyed. The whole is surrounded by an 'arch'. The 'stones' creating both sides and the bottom of the arch bear the insignia of infantry, armored, and airborne divisions that at one time or another were attached to the III Corps. The 'stones' that create the top of the arch chronicle III Corps' progress across the continent and provide details about each engagement, the dates, and the units involved, and the III Corps insignia acts as the keystone. Printed photographs of the corps' two commanding generals (Major General John Milliken and Major General James A. Van Fleet) appear just below the top of the arch.

World War II Route Maps

Maps tracing unit movements during World War II were created by both American and British forces during and after the war. As a genre, these maps represent a broad range of aesthetics, from the purely functional that label places and provide dates, to the artistic, even comic. Many combine the three and provide a visually striking but historically informative summary of the unit's peregrinations.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Al Beaudry and published as late as October 1945 based on the printed '10/45' notation below the lower right corner. We note a single cataloged example in OCLC, which is part of the collection at Texas A and M University. An example is part of the collection at the Controvich Library.