MI9 Escape & Evasion map K Cyrenaica : L A M Fleming-Dunstan, Women's Auxiliary Air Force

Places
Accession Number REL38440
Collection type Heraldry
Object type Personal Equipment
Physical description Silk
Maker Waddington PLC
Place made United Kingdom: England
Date made c 1940-1941
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Description

Single sided map printed on silk in black, red and green ink. It is sheet 'K' and covers Cyrenaica and northern Egypt at scale 1:1657000. It includes a key and index to adjoining sheets. The top section of the map, which would have shown Crete, has been cut away, as has the bottom edge. The shorter sides have stitched edges, while the longer sides are raw.

History / Summary

This map is associated with the service of Lesley Allea Morrison Fleming-Dunstan who served with the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War. Before the war Australian-born Fleming-Dunstan was holidaying with her mother in Italy. After Italy joined with Germany they made their way to England. The night they arrived in London was the first night of the German air raids. Fleming-Dunstan joined the Women's Auxilliary Air Force and trained as an officer at Leighton Buzzard. She served at several Royal Air Force bases in the United Kingdom and during her service was given this fabric escape and evasion map by an airman. After the war Fleming-Dunstan married a British Regular Army Officer, William Stirling Craig and the family lived in a number of places, including Kenya and Mauritius, before settling in Britain.