1945 Billings and Arnaud City Plan or Map of Nice, France

This is a 1945 Henry Billings city plan or map of Nice, France, or the United States Riviera Recreation Area. Published for American soldiers on leave, the map focuses on central Nice, noting Promenade des Anglais and the Quai des Etats-Unis. Numbers mark thirty-eight locations meant to entertain soldiers, including hotels, clubs, theaters, and beaches. Twenty-two vignettes along the map's border and highlight recreational delights. Others appear in a key at bottom center.

The United States Riviera Recreation Area

Founded in the summer of 1945, the United States Riviera Recreation Center hosted thousands of American soldiers every week for seven days and seven nights. Enlisted men spent their week in Nice while officers were billeted in Cannes. Per a story in YANK Magazine, most soldiers in Nice were on their best behavior. They enjoyed the fantastic food, soft beds, hot water, and, of course, beautiful women. Clubs, bars, and restaurants catered to their needs. The USRRA organized excursions out of town, sporting activities, and other outings, including deep-sea fishing. Nearly everything in town was free for soldiers. Luxuries, such as Coca-Cola, beer, and fruit juice, items not available at the front, were stocked in the post exchange. A post office allowed the men to send gifts and other things home to the United States. The Military Police even took a relaxed view on discipline here, preferring to give the soldiers some leeway and helping them instead of imprisoning them or punishing them in another way. This attitude, in turn, helped the soldiers behave (mostly), along with the desire not to blow the chances for another guy still fighting to be able to get a week's leave.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Sergeant Henry Billings, published by the U.S. Riviera Recreation Area, and printed by Benoit Arnaud in October 1945.