CartoCuriosity - World War II Route Maps

World War II route maps offer an extraordinary view of the conflict through the eyes of the soldiers who fought it. Created by military artists, engineers, draftsmen, and infantrymen, these rare pictorial maps trace individual units across the battlefields of Europe, recording campaigns, river crossings, command posts, engineering works, and moments of humor amid the devastation of war. Produced in small numbers as commemorative keepsakes rather than official military documents, they combine cartographic precision, firsthand testimony, illustration, and personal memory. The Geographicus WWII Route Map Archive preserves this overlooked category of wartime cartography - maps made by soldiers, for soldiers, as enduring visual records of service, survival, and shared experience.