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Guadalcanal Solomon Islands Silk Survival Pilot's Map


johnny12550
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johnny12550

Just got this map today of the Bismarck Archchepelego and the Solomon Islands area. I've been looking for one on line or looking to see if another is for sale. I have not been able to find one. Does anyone else have a similar map?

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johnny12550

Actually, the one you have pictured is one of the Naval escape maps of WWII. What I'm looking for is the Solomon Islands map. I could only find some archived museum or collection examples

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The one you posted is also a NACI HO, thought you were looking for others. Have them listed in the for sale thread, do a search. There is a website that lists them all.

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I am a little confused about what you are asking. The Bismarck Archchepelego and the Solomon Islands chart you posted pictures of is commonly referred to as a Navy drift chart or handkerchief chart. It is one of several charts covering areas the Pacific Ocean. Are you looking to find other charts in the series, which is what USARV72 offered you. Or, are you looking for other maps from a different series of maps of the Solomon Islands? Or did you post pictures of a chart you don't have but are looking for?

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There are 3 variants of the Solomon Islands chart. 1 with summer currents (MAY - SEP) like the one you posted pictures of. 1 with winter currents (NOV - MAR W) and another without currents.

 

 

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johnny12550

Basically what i'm asking is for the rarity of the exact map I have pictured. I was looking online and thought I would find 1000 of them for sale through various websites, but no one has that exact map. Other Naval maps in the series are for sale, but the Solomons map is one that I can't find. Besides the maps RWW posted on this thread I have bot seen a Solomons map

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Keeping in mind the charts were printed in the 1943/44 time frame, they have become a bit harder to find than in years past. The Solomon Islands / Bismarck Archipelago chart was one of the 1st in the series that was produced simply because this was where the main battles in the Pacific were taking place at the time. As WWII Veterans pass away and foot lockers are found and opened, the treasures inside show up. Occasionally a fellow collector will decide the time has come for someone else to preserve a bit of history and will sell all or part of a collection. None of the World War Two stuff is very common any more, but there was quite a bit of it produced and quite a few examples still exist. If you want it today, you have picked the wrong hobby. Attend shows in your area, meet a few people, watch the online auction sites, and I am sure you will find other examples and variations of the chart, after all, I did...

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johnny12550

Thanks RWW. I've actually been collecting since the early 1980s. Unfortunately for my wife I have a whole room occupied by my collection. This is the first time I have come across this map in all my years of collecting. According to a picker that sometimes finds military and gives me a call, the map came from a Navy Corsair Pilot. The grandson is selling his stuff off little by little. He had this map, a grenade and 1930s Photos from Pearl Harbor. 2 ships I cant identify. The other 2 are the Oklahoma and the Submarine S19. Lets see what the grandson brings next.

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I looked at an auction site and found a couple of Solomon Island charts. They were in groups of other items and not listed specifically as that chart. I don't know if maps are an area of interest, or just one of those peripheral things that dovetails into your main area of interest. You have been collecting about as long as I have and I am sure you have figured this out as well.Play around with the search terms, like silk map, drift chart, navy map, navy chart, handkerchief chart, etc. A lot of people find items in an attic, or trunk and have no idea what they actually have, so I have fun trying to think of any possible description for an item. It is amazing how you find some things described.

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Check out escape-maps.com. Have had NACI HO and USAAF escape maps from PTO and ETO when collecting aviation since to 80’s. Its out there.

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That is a good reference site! They show most of the drift charts. There are a few, I am not sure how many, because I am not vain enough to say I have seen every variant, that have both Summer and Winter currents on them. There are none of those pictured. You are correct, they are out there and that is what makes this hobby so fun, looking for them!!!

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IIRC, all the years I’ve been looking , survival maps seem to have been found at flea markets, junks shops or similar where owners dont know exactly what they are. Usually pay what asked. Few found at shows were kind of high priced or with a “ grouping”. Double sided ones are hard to display unless using 2 pieces of lexan or glass in double sided frame. One runs out of all space, lol. Also, they fade when exposed to direct light, keep them in the dark.

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johnny12550

USARV72,

 

Thanks for forwarding the site, It was very informative. I don't collect just maps. I just concentrate on anything WWII or earlier. It is fun going out an hunting for stuff. RWW You're fight about searching for stuff on the net. I was once looking for a red jacket to use for a Halloween party and I think I typed Vintage red jacket. I ended up finding a very real Victorian red yeomanry tunic. Very cool find for $30

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The realty is that all these NACI-HO charts are quite common. Some will have three-four variations or printings like illustarted in post #12, six charts in particular with the Solomons and Santa Cruz being one of them. The chart originally posted would be considered a second printing, the currents were printed in either summer or winter with a potential fourth printing having both on a single chart. These can be recognized easily by green and red current indicators. These NACI-HO charts did not become available until the summer of 1944, the first being the six charts without currents then by the close of the year those having currents. The chart in the original post would be a very late 1944 issued item and even more likely into 1945. Though the major campaigns were over in the region by the time of this charts' existence there were still many air operations in that area. It has been my experience that the Solomon's chart is more desirable because of the notoriety of the area. Even often, see these marked up higher in price because of that fact. I think its just in a little higher demand so you may not see as many because they are being bought up. The value of any in this series is about 30-40 dollars tops.

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There are two versions of the "instruction sheet", OPNAV – 16 – v #S109. The "original" Navy version and one that was reprinted by the AAF. I also believe that AAF units in the Pacific were issued 3 of the charts in addition to the instruction sheet. S-12 Western Pacific, S12-1 & 25 Bismarck Arch. and NW Solomon Is. / S12-23 & 25 SE Solomon Is. and Santa Cruz Is., and S-8 B-3 Luzon & Taiwan Is. / S-8 B-4 Mindanao, Phillipine Is. I have never see any of the charts with the same "REPRODUCED FOR HEADQUARTERS, AERONAUTICAL CHART SERVICE, ARMY AIR FORCES" as the instruction sheet has.(Than does not mean they don't exist, just that I haven't seen one.) I don't know if the AAF reprinted the charts they used without the disclaimer or drew from Navy stocks. If they reprinted charts, it would stand to reason there would be even more of the charts used by them than just the Navy.

 

Dustin, do you have a list of all the variations of the charts you can post?

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That is interesting about "instruction sheet" AAF vs. Navy version. I never see one with "REPRODUCED FOR HEADQUARTERS, AERONAUTICAL CHART SERVICE, ARMY AIR FORCES". Have to see my example...

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