[Illustration: ENGLAND MEMBERS OF AN ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHICAL BATTALION preparing maps of Europe prior to the invasion of France. In 1944 more than 125,000,000 maps giving more complete details than those shown here were printed for the invasion alone. An average of 867 tons of maps was shipped each month from the United States. In addition, 3,695,750 salvaged enemy maps were used for reverse side printing. Large-scale maps showing beach and underwater obstacles on the American and British assault beaches were produced by the U. S. Army Engineers in preparation for the invasion.] [Illustration] [Illustration: ENGLAND ANEMOMETER AND WIND DIRECTION INDICATOR being checked by an enlisted man of a weather section. Improvements in weather forecasting, instrument bombing technique and equipment, and operating procedures had advanced so much that whereas in 1942 U. S. bombers could operate on an average of only six days per month, in the last year of the war they averaged twenty-two days.] [Illustration: ENGLAND MEMBERS OF A FIGHTER GROUP being briefed before taking off on a mission England, 1944] [Illustration: ENGLAND WACS WORKING IN THE COMMUNICATIONS SECTION of the operations room at an air force station. No opportunity was overlooked to replace men with personnel of the Women’s Army Corps both in the United States and overseas, Wacs were given many technical and specialized jobs to do, as well as administrative and office work. The Medical Corps employed the largest number of Wacs in technical jobs, but other technical services such as the Transportation Corps, Signal Corps, Ordnance Department, and Quartermaster Corps had many positions that could be performed by women as efficiently as by men.] [Illustration: ENGLAND MAIL FOR UNITS STATIONED IN ENGLAND being sorted. The handling of the mails through the Army Post Office (APO) was a function of the Adjutant General’s Department. Mail normally was delivered to the armed forces with the least possible delay as it was an important morale factor for men stationed away from home. During the last week of May 1944 an artificial delay of ten days was imposed on the forwarding of all American mail to the United States and elsewhere, and the use of transatlantic telephone, radio, and cable facilities was denied to American personnel. British mail was strictly censored by the military authorities from April 1944 until the invasion on 6 June 1944. These precautionary measures were taken to assure the secrecy of the coming invasion. In addition, a block was also placed on diplomatic correspondence of all countries except the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR.] [Illustration: ENGLAND ARTILLERY UNITS TRAINING IN ENGLAND. A liaison plane flying over a battery of 105-mm. howitzers M 2A 1 (top). A 155-mm. gun firing (bottom).]