Escape and evasion map printed on playing cards distributed to Prisoners of War which could be soaked and pealed apart revealing the escape map. Many of the maps of the Pacific region were printed by the US Army Map Service, while the UK was responsible for many of the European Theatre maps. Many of the US Navy charts were folded in envelopes and distributed to the air crews before a mission, and to be turned in when the mission was successfully completed. They were called "drift charts" by the Navy, "...since their prime purpose was to indicate to aircrews survivors in their life rafts
British hardened field defences of World War II British hardened field defences of World War II British hardened field defences of World War II were small fortified structures constructed as a part of British anti-invasion preparations. They were popularly known as "pillboxes", a reference to their shape. In May 1940, the directorate of Fortifications and Works (FW3) was set up at the War Office under the direction of Major-General G. B. O. Taylor. Its purpose was to provide a number of basic but effective pillbox designs that could be constructed by soldiers and local labour at appropriate defensive locations. In the following June and July, FW3 issued six