1942 Beisser Route Map of a German Bicycle Battalion on the Eastern Front

This is a set of two c. 1942 Beisser pictorial route maps of a German bicycle battalion on the Eastern Front during World War II (1939 - 1945). While route maps following American and British units during World War II are prevalent, their German counterparts are exceedingly rare.

A Closer Look

The map on the left follows the battalion's movements from December 1, 1941 through August 10, 1942. It illustrates soldiers biking, trudging through the snow, taking prisoners, and, in the foreground, socializing. The map on the right focuses on the Baltic, with Riga providing the most obvious point of reference. German airplanes, artillery, a tank, and other implements of war populate the map.

Bicycle Battalion 402

Bicycle Battalion 402 was organized in 1940 and fought in the Battle of France. They then transferred to the Eastern Front and fought in Operation Barbarossa. It was renamed Radfahr-Abteilung 402 in the summer of 1942 and disbanded in the summer of 1943.

The Eastern Front in World War II

Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia signed a non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) in August 1939 that stated that the Soviet Union would regain Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and that Poland would be partitioned between Germany and the Soviet Union. Even so, it was nothing more than a stalling action, and Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. What followed was the largest military confrontation in history. Approximately 30 million casualties occurred on the Eastern Front, including 9 million children. A robust body of historical research documents the horrors of the Eastern Front, of which Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder, is particularly impressive.

Publication History and Census

These maps were created and published by Bicycle Battalion 402 c. 1942. These maps do not appear in OCLC, and we have been unable to locate any in institutional collections.