Training Information:
Map Reading - The British Military Grid System
Privates are not normally expected to be able to read military maps, however, in warfare you have to be ready for the unexpected.
This is the standard map reference system used by the Western Allies, and later by the Americans as well. You need to learn how to identify a location by its military grid reference.Here is how the system is organized:
1. Western Europe is divided into ten geographic zones
2. Each zone is subdivided into squares of 500 kilometers per side. Each of these is designated by a low case letter, from "a" to "z".
3. Each of these squares is further subdivided into 25 squares of 100 kilometers per side. These are identified by upper case letters, from "A" to "Z" omitting the letter "I". Each of these squares are identified by the combination of two letters, for example 'vZ', indicating a particular 100 km square within the larger 500 km square v.
4. Within each 100 x 100 km square a location is identified by the number of kilometres along the x and y axis from the starting point in the lower left corner of the square.
A 10 x 10 kilometre square might be identified as vZ38 - square vZ, 30 km on the x axis, 80 kilometres on the y axis.
A 1 x 1 kilometre square might be identified by vZ3383 - square vZ, 33 km on the x axis, 83 km on the y axis.
A 0.1 x 0.1 km square might be identifed by vZ 337835 - square vZ, 33.7 km on the x axis, 83.5 km on the y axis.
