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Escape and Evasion Maps, also called silk maps or cloth maps, are maps made for servicemen to be used in case of capture or being caught behind enemy lines. Developed during World War II, these maps were used by many American and British servicemen to escape from behind enemy lines. These maps could be used without a rustle or crackling. They could also be hidden inside cloth uniforms, such as in a seam or inside a collar, that wouldn't betray their existence during a frisking or inspection. The silk maps could also be used to patch clothes, filter water, make a sling for an injured arm or to make a bandage. They could also be used to blow the nose. "The Allies needed to be able to print their clandestine maps on a material that would be hardier than paper -- material that wouldn't tear or dissolve in water and that would be light enough for the user to pack into a boot or cigarette packet at a moment's notice. (Silk maps, which have long been in use among militaries, have the added advantage that they don't make noise as they're being held or stored -- an important attribute, when you're a prisoner in search of escape.)"〔Garber, Megan. 2013. ("How Monopoly Games Helped Allied POWs Escape During World War II." ) The Atlantic. January 2013.〕 == Misnomer == The British were the first to use cloth maps during World War II. They produced a rather odd series of burlap maps for the Royal Air Force on canvas backing. Teams of women used colored burlap thread, and created realistic landscapes of the areas of interest. These maps helped familiarize the pilots and navigators with terrain feature when on bombing runs over the continent. A good team could complete a ten foot square of canvas and burlap in about three days.〔Doll, John G. 2002. Cloth maps, charts and blood chits of World War II. Page 12.〕 Most of the American maps supplied by the Army Map Service from World War II were actually printed on rayon acetate materials, and not silk.〔(US Cloth Maps of World War II." ) 2007.〕 However, because of the silky texture of the materials, they were referred to by the more familiar textile name. "When you look at these maps the unusual materials are perhaps the first thing you notice. During WWII hundreds of thousands of maps were produced by the British on thin cloth and tissue paper. The idea was that a serviceman captured or shot down behind enemy lines should have a map to help him find his way to safety if he escaped or, better still, evade capture in the first place. A map like this could be concealed in a small place (a cigarette packet or the hollow heel of a flying boot), did not rustle suspiciously if the captive was searched and, in the case of maps on cloth or mulberry leaf paper, could survive wear and tear and even immersion in water. The scheme was soon extended to cover those who had already been captured, although a certain amount of ingenuity was required to get the maps into the POW camps."〔Hall, Debbie. ("Wall tiles and Free Parking: escape and evasion maps of World War II." )〕 Many of these maps were also used in clandestine wartime activities. Several of these maps, for example, were issued to Oliver Churchill, a member of the Special Operations Executive or SOE, for his activities in Italy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Escape and evasion map」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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