WW2 Maps Project – Progress Update
Things are really starting to come together on the mapping side of the project, so I wanted to share what’s been happening behind the scenes:
Georeferencing Complete
I’ve finished georeferencing the first batch of WW2 maps. It’s been a slow process but is essential so they can be accurately overlaid with modern maps making these historical documents even more usable and meaningful when researching.
Infrastructure Designed & Optimised
I’ve now finished designing the infrastructure that will power the map viewer. It’s been designed with a focus on performance and low running costs – important for making the project sustainable long-term, especially as the number of maps hopefully continues to grow over time.
Automated XYZ Tile Generation
After a fair bit of testing and research, I’ve finalised (and dockerised!) the process for XYZ map tile generation. I spent time experimenting with the tile size, file format, image quality, and zoom levels to get great-looking maps that are fast-loading, high-quality and cost effective to serve.
Moving to the Cloud (AWS Fargate)
Now that the tile generation is containerised, I’m moving the whole process to run on AWS Fargate – a serverless compute platform. This will let me process many maps concurrently, which is going to save a lot of time when processing batches of maps as each map can take 40+ minutes.
This is also a core component of the disaster recovery policy and future proofing the project as it will allow me to backup only the original source geotiff images while being able to regenerate the online maps if needed in the future.
New Computer
My current laptop was struggling to keep up with the large QGIS project files and resource intensive tools, often freezing up. I’ve now invested in a much more powerful desktop, which has already made a big difference in speeding up the project and getting momentum going again.
Next Step!
The first batch of maps should be going live next week – I’m really excited to share them!
War Diary Updates
The 5th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment August 1944 War diary covers the unit's actions in the area around Mount Pincon and their advance, ending the month at Gasny after crossing the River Seine.
Last week I published the 1/5 Battalion Welch Regiment August 1944 War Diary covering the units time in Normandy, initially in the area Gournay before advancing east to area Les Quatre Hertes
Recent Visits
Army Flying Museum
I had the chance to visit the Army Flying Museum, which had some fantastic exhibits – including both WACO and Horsa gliders. There’s a great section on the Glider Pilot Regiment and their roles in Normandy and Arnhem. Definitely worth a visit if you’re nearby.
3rd Canadian Division Memorial
I also had a quick visit to the 3rd Canadian Division Memorial, at the site where the division held services from April 14, 1944, up to D-Day.