The Astrologer of Flanders

During the course of WW1 over 34 million maps were produced by the Royal Engineers and the Ordnance Survey.  From primitive beginnings, by the end of the war, the British Army was in possession of the finest and most accurate maps of any of the combatant nations.

How did this happen and who were these men? We look at the work of the Field Survey Companies commanded by the meticulous Bovril drinking Major E M Jack, who assembled a crack team of surveyors and cartographers to undertake the massive task of surveying the Western Front.  Using skills such as aerial photography, sound ranging, flash spotting and the scientific skills of a Nobel Prize winning physicist, Jack's team produced exceptionally detailed maps.

To meet demand the Ordnance Survey launched a new team of map-making experts the OBOS in France, whose output was prodigious.  We hear the story of a gallant RFC officer whose illegal use of a camera revolutionised aerial photographic interpretation, hear the unfortunate fate of the first survey party to be sent out into No Mans Land, and meet Lt. Henry "Crystal Ball" Rowbotham, the so-called Astrologer of Flanders. 

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