Sumba Island Military Geography Map (No.2)
- Title
- eng Sumba Island Military Geography Map (No.2)
- Description
- eng The map is a Japanese intelligence map of Sumba Island (part of the Lesser Sunda archipelago in Eastern Indonesia) during WWII. This is a three-timing map with layers made at three different times. The oldest layer is the base map by the Dutch Colonial Mapping Agency, done based on a 1934-1935 survey. This layer has the outline of the island of Sumba, dense contour lines, rivers, roads, trails and paths, and regions and features labeled in Dutch. The next layer is the Japanese Sixteenth Army reprint of the map from 1942, created when the Japanese invaded the island and captured the Dutch map; the 1942 reprint includes a Japanese title, secrecy classification, and a translated legend. The third layer of the map is another Japanese reprint from 1944 which has extensive notes about Japan’s troop placements, potential enemy landing sites, and other military information. This overlay includes handwritten notes in blue ink (information crucial to the occupation) and red ink (possible future enemy movements). The secrecy classification was also increased in 1944 to “top military secret”. We especially note the historical context that Japan was considering invading Australia, which is fairly close to the Sumba Island. Additionally, by 1944 the United States had begun its “Island Hopping” campaign and were capturing key Japanese-controlled islands to disrupt Japanese sea routes and push towards the Japanese mainland. The map depicts potential landing spots for the enemy, indicating that the army which revised this map may have believed Sumba to be a potential target for the Allies.
- Creator/agency who created the original map
- eng Japanese Government
- eng Dutch Colonial Mapping Agency
- Date
- 1944
- Genre
- eng Japanese Intelligence Maps
- Places shown in the map
- eng Sumba
- Map Set
- eng Sumba Island
- Rights
- eng NO KNOWN COPYRIGHT
- Contributor
-
eng
Sophie Newmark
Cameron Richardson
Brandon Hamilton
Finley Sebert
George Conlan
Isaiah Irwin
Jenny Tang
Kristoff Cao
Peter Annunziata
- Media
-
Sumba Island