Have lots of numbered positions in war diary for 73rd medium regiment April 1945. Is there anyway of translating them to places in Italy Start at 409283 on 1st and end at 185812 on 23rd April Thanks
These are most likely “Map or Grid References” so that you can plot the position on WW2 maps. A good source of these maps is McMaster University (link below) It would help to find the “correct map” if you new the approximate location (name of region, or city, etc) in Italy WWII Topographic Map Series: ITALY [& South Switzerland] | McMaster University Library
This site is super helpful: Notes on the "Modified British System" used on the European Theatre of Operations during the WWII If you go here: The grids used on the European Theatre of Operations You can scroll down to the North Italy Zone (I assume) and try to figure out which letter code is the correct prefix for the map they were using. Then go here: The "Coordinates Translator" Pick "Italian Northern Grid" in the dropdown, and then type (say)wM0000 [this should be your combination of letter code and numeric coordinate, however many digits it is) and then click Convert! This will then show you the longitude and latitude of the point, where it is in a map of Italy, and also a view of the position in MapQuest. If it is way off from the towns you know of, you probably guess the letter code incorrectly - try another one. If you then want to look at the historical topographic map, the letter prefix is I think useful for making sure you have the right one.
I’ve plotted the first number you gave 409283 on a 100,000 map (you can get maps that are closer) and assuming I found the right map (I think I did, I found where they had casualties buried on CWGC website and found the area in general https://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo:31308/datastream/OBJ/macrepo:31308.tiff And here’s the location, using the information Chris posted above, which CONFIRMS the location I posted on the WW2 map above in this post
Generally, in the left hand column of the war diaries it shows the location, most often a town and sometimes a map reference. The diaries also sometimes show the letter prefix to a reference, may help if you post the pages.