Allemagne du sud et austrich... map used by CQMS Sydney Edwards (51st Battalion) when escaping captivity in WWI

Accession Number AWM2019.6.39
Map call number Escape Map Collection
Collection type Digitised Collection
Record type Item
Item count 1
Object type Map
Physical description 2 Image/s captured
Maker Unknown
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Description

French road map of southern Germany and Austria used by 2364 Company Quartermaster Sergeant (CQMS) Sydney Edwards, the first Australian to make a successful escape to Switzerland during World War I. On the map Edwards plotted his route from Lechfeld POW Camp, just south of Augsburg, to the Swiss frontier near Schaffhausen, a distance of 160 kilometres which he travelled on foot from 29 April to 9 May 1918. Includes, in the margin, Edwards' handwritten notes describing his progress and conditions along the way.