Original Item. Only One Lot of 3 Available. This is an excellent grouping of three WWII U.S. Army Air Forces AAF Cloth Charts from the Army Map Service's Eastern Asia 1:1,000,000 series. All three are double-sided examples carrying the same Japanese Home Islands pairing: NJ 53, Kanazawa on one side and NJ 54, Sendai on the reverse.

The upper margins are prominently marked AAF CLOTH CHART, along with the restriction:

For use by
War and Navy Department Agencies only
Not for sale or distribution

The Kanazawa side is marked FIRST EDITION - AMS 2 / NJ 53, while the Sendai side is marked SECOND EDITION - AMS 2 / NJ 54. The charts belong to the Army Map Service A.M.S. 5301 series and are printed at a scale of 1:1,000,000. Period cataloging identifies the Kanazawa/Sendai combination as a 1943 Army Map Service production.

Each side is an extraordinarily detailed wartime cartographic representation of Japan. The Kanazawa sheet covers a broad section of Honshu and the adjoining Sea of Japan, while the Sendai sheet continues the coverage eastward across northern and northeastern Honshu to the Pacific coast. Major cities and towns, roads, railroads, and magnetic navigation data are all represented. The lower margins also retain their original legends, distance scales, glossary, indexes to adjoining sheets, and color keys.

Of particular interest, this lot contains two distinctly different presentations of the same chart pairing. Two of the three examples have the additional multicolored wind and ocean-current information printed across the water areas, readily identified by the sweeping red and green directional lines, arrows, numbered indications, and boxed WINDS / CURRENTS key. The third example does not carry this supplemental colored overprint, leaving the underlying topographic and aeronautical information considerably less cluttered. Having both forms together makes this an especially interesting comparative group.

Many American cloth escape maps were printed on rayon-acetate, selected because it resisted tearing, tolerated moisture, folded into a very small space, and could be handled much more quietly than paper. Such qualities made cloth charts extremely useful to aircrew as both navigation and Escape & Evasion (E&E) aids should they be forced down away from friendly territory.

All three examples remain very presentable, with strong color and clear detail throughout. They show expected fold lines, scattered age spotting and staining, and minor edge wear.

Approximate Dimensions of Each: 22 ½” x 23 ½”