VIII Corps in European Theater of Operations

From England to Germany – the WWII campaigns of the VIII Corps.

This tremendous two-sheet map (measurement given for each) captures the breadth of the VIII Corps action across Europe with sweeping color, vibrant insignia, and illustrated accompaniments. The campaign began on the beaches of Normandy in mid-June 1944, and shortly thereafter followed the controversial westward thrust towards the Atlantic ports. (It was contended that this was a poor use of resources).

In any case, by October the corps was in Belgium along the Ardennes Front, just in time for the German last-ditch offensive that would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. The assault through the Siegfried Line, which, along with Paris, is one of the two illustrated components of the maps, is capped off by the linkup with the Red Army near the border of Czechoslovakia. Nearby, a small reproduction of the general order notifying the command of the German surrender can be seen. Along the route, blue boxes identify battles in which the corps and its primary component divisions participated.

The map was prepared by VII Corps Office of the Engineer and the 665th Engineer Topographic Corps in May of 1945.