Germany Plans for the Invasion of Great Britain
For Official Use Only
Rare and notable German military mapping of the cities in England, prepared in 1941 and apparently meant to be used in planning a possible land invasion of Britain.
The map shows detailed accounts of all British towns in England. The maps show major features in all of these cities, as well as designating different types of roads and paths.
The booklet may have had multiple uses. In addition to possibly being prepared for planning a possible invasion, it may have also been issued to pilots as a general plan to be used in conjunction with maps for aerial navigation.
Operation Sea Lion
Operation Sea Lion was the code name for the proposed Axis invasion of the British Isles. Immediately after the fall of France in the late spring of 1940, Hitler laid plans for the possible invasion of England. However, his plans were repeatedly delayed, and indefinitely postponed in September of that year due to the failure of the German army to gain air superiority over Britain.
Despite the indefinite postponement of the proposed invasion, preparations were still underway. Some factions of the army argued that a May, 1941, when the first Bismark-class battleships would come onto line. However, the invasion of Russia and continued lack of air superiority led to the Operation not being reconsidered.
Contents
[Frontispiece folding map]; [title]; 160 pages of maps (some folding); 2-page index.
Rarity
We locate six institutional copies through OCLC, as well as examples at the University of Nottingham and the IWM.