Nazis’ UK invasion plans sell for £2,000
SECRET papers outlining Adolf Hitler’s “meticulous” plan to invade Britain have fetched £2,000 at auction 81 years later.
The rare set of books and maps, in their original folder, show how Hitler set his sights on UK towns and cities during the Second World War.
In unnerving detail, they set out our civilian and military make-up and maps show major cities including Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester. There are also grid references for rail, road and electricity networks.
The documents, printed in Berlin in August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, would have been distributed to the Third Reich’s military before the invasion, codenamed Operation Sea Lion.
The first volume of more than 200 pages lists towns, cities, infrastructure and detailed analysis. The second has 177 pages which include images of places of interest.
There are also map references for locations in the
UK and Ireland and eight large maps of the two countries. Hitler prefaced the order by stating: “As England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, still shows no signs of willingness to come to terms, I have decided to prepare, and if necessary to carry out, a landing operation against her.”
But as Luftwaffe losses increased, Hitler postponed Operation Sea Lion indefinitely on September 17, 1940 and it was never put into action. The documents were sold by a private collector with auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, of Devizes, Wilts.The £2,000 price included fees. Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: “They were a complete breakdown of the civilian and military infrastructure of the United Kingdom – everything from railways to electrical grids and population centres. It was a meticulous plan. “The collection is an extraordinary and chilling snapshot of what could have happened. It would have been apocalyptic.
“It is unique among Operation Sea Lion material because it is presented in a full set along with the original folder.”