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Annotated Map of the Observation Posts of the 201st, 202nd, and 203rd Air Defence Guards Around Budapest.
Map of Budapest and surroundings, issued in 1926 and updated with annotations in the midst of the Second World War to show observation posts of the Hungarian air observation guards.
The map shows a string of observation points approximately fifteen kilometers away from the city, forming a half semi-circle that is open to the south. Posts are at roughly three-kilometer intervals and on local high points. The numbering starts at 1 and proceeds counter-clockwise to seven, before picking up again at 18, suggesting that other guards were responsible for observation to the south of the city.
Handwritten Hungarian-language instructions on the verso of the map describe the posts to be manned for the 201st, 202nd, and 203rd guards. While Budapest was initially at low risk of bombing at the start of the war, advancing Soviet troops, Allied air supremacy, and the industrial might of the city led to it being targeted in raids, most famously in July 1944.
