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German invasion plans for the British Isles

Operation Sea Lion

A complete set of German documents prepared for the invasion of England and Wales, with some material for Ireland.

Background and format of material
In preparing to invade Britain, the German military preparations included the production of a series of military/geographical assessments, showing what might be found by those arriving. This material was also used in a military evaluation of the regions of the British Isles, and considered each from the viewpoint of invasion.

The full assessment for England and Wales consists of three thick A5 sized folders containing books and maps, plus eleven A4 sized folders, each containing maps and a book of photographs. There are 144 six-inch town maps marked with strategic locations, and almost 1500 black and white photographs.

Folders (Mappe) A, B and C (A5 sized folders)
Folder A : England and Wales, on a regional basis with numerous photographs and maps.
Folder B : London, photographs and maps.
Folder C : Books of coastal photographs to help with selecting invasion beaches.

The eleven large A4 sized folders each contain large scale town plans marked with strategic locations, a book of photographs and a quarter-inch map of the area.

Ireland : Operation Green (Unternehmen Grün) was the planned invasion of Ireland in support of Operation Sea Lion (Unternehmen Seelöwe). We have included Irish material from the Mil-Geo series in this collection.

The collection
Photographs, booklets and large scale maps of important towns form the bulk of this collection. The maps are copies of Ordnance Survey maps, with overprints highlighting sites which the Germans would have considered targets in any invasion.

We have put this collection together over many years and believe it to be the most complete ever offered for sale. A few odd items have appeared on eBay over the last few years, but we have seen nothing such as follows.

Overall, the collection is in very nice condition. Maps and booklets are usually internally bright, with any damage being slight, usually confined to dusty edges, slight foxing, very occasionally a light water stain or small tear to map edge. The pale green used for folder and book covers has faded in places, where it is now a light brown colour.

Extra items included
1. A second edition of Folder B (Mappe B), London, are included.
2. A second edition of the booklet of town plans is included (Mappe A. item 13).
3. Although not part of this assessment, we have included similar material prepared for Ireland.

Militärgeographische : Mil-Geo
Most book covers bear the following : Generalstab des Heeres / Abteiling für Kriegskarten un Vermessungswessen (IV.Mil.-Geo.) / Berlin 1940 (or 1941)

Translated as :
Military High Command / Department of Military Cartography and Surveying (IV.Mil.-Geo.) / Berlin 1940 (or 1941)

Most maps and books are headed : Nur für den Dienstgebrauch! : For Official use only.

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Section 1 : Large Folders : Town maps and photographs

Militärgeographische Einzelangaben über England
Maps of England showing features of military significance

Militärgeographische Objektkarten mit Objektbildern
Maps of military installations with photographs.

In preparing for the invasion of Great Britain (Operation Sea Lion), a vast amount of information, including maps and photographs, was assembled by the German military. The maps in this collection were arranged in groups, based on the Ordnance Survey Quarter-inch Fourth Edition sheet lines, and distributed in pale green A4 size folders, which also included a book of postcard-sized photographs.

Thus, each numbered folder has a quarter-inch map of the area, a book of photographs and large scale plans of significant towns. The quarter-inch (1:250,000) maps use an extensive list of purple symbols for industrial sites (e.g. chemicals, waterworks, textiles, electricity) and red symbols for strategic sites (e.g. hospitals, airfields, radio stations, barracks). The large scale plans are usually 1:10,000 scale (metric six-inch), and again are an Ordnance Survey base map with coloured symbols showing sites of military significance such as airports, railway workshops, docks, bridges. Such sites are often illustrated in the book of photographs, the captions of which give a map location for each site, and each mapped site gives the book illustration number.

Sheet size is usually 18.5" by 12.5 inches, with larger combined sheets showing some towns on a single sheet.

The town maps are very attractive, being printed in brown (rather than black), with blue water.
The various coloured symbols stand out clearly, are easily seen and are quite striking. The delicate black bridge symbols are especially noticeable and numerous, as are the red boundaries of railway stations and goods yards. Basically, for each town these maps show all locations that the Germans thought to be strategically important. They also double as a large scale pre-war Ordnance Survey map.

All folders were issued in 1941 or 1942 and are headed : Nur für den Dienstgebrauch! : For Official use only.

Generalstab des Heeres. Abteilung für Kriegskarten und Vermessungswesen (IV. Mil.-Geo.). Berlin 1941 (or 1942).
Military High Command / Department of Military Cartography and Surveying (IV.Mil.-Geo.) / Berlin 1941 (or 1942).

Condition
Overall, the maps are in very nice condition, and are usually internally bright, with any damage being slight, usually confined to dusty edges, slight foxing, very occasionally a light water stain or small tear to map edge. The pale green used for folder and book covers has faded in places, where it is now a light brown colour.

Notes
1. English will be used in this listing.
2. The German for the first folder is as follows.
3. Notation examples : Newcastle is on three sheets : BB 3a, b, c, with Sunderland on a combined sheet BB 3.
Keighley is on two sheets : BB 9ae, af.

Example
Inhalt der Mappe 1: "The Border"

1. England 1: 250 000, Blatt 1, "The Border"

umfrassend die Blattbereiche (BB) 1, 2, 3 der Karte von England 1:100 000

2. Stadtpläne 1:10 000

Carlisle : BB 2a
Newcastle : BB 3a, b, c
South Shields : BB 3 Zusammendruck
Sunderland : BB 3 Zusammendruck

3. Heft Objektbilder

zu den militärgeographischen Objektkarten 1:250 000 und 1:10 000 der Mappe : 1 The Border.
Abgeschlossen am 15. Mai 1942.

Folder 1. The Border

1. 1:250,000, Sheet 1, The Border (31 December 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 15.v.1942)
Carlisle : BB 2a
Newcastle : BB 3a, b, c
South Shields : BB 3 Combined sheet
Sunderland : BB 3 Combined sheet

3. Book of photographs (15 May 1942, 45 pages)

Folder 2. [North Central] Nördliches Zentralgebiet

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 2, North Central (February 1942)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 30.iv.1942)
Barrow in Furness : BB 8a, b
Preston : BB 8c, d
Accrington : BB 9e, f
Blackburn : BB 9g, h
Keighley : BB 9ae, af

3. Book of photographs (6 May 1942, 45 pages)

Folder 3. [England, North East] Nordost-England

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 3, England, North East (1 December 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 30.iv.1942)
Middlesbrough : BB 6b, c, d, e
York : BB 10 Combined sheet
Kingston upon Hull : BB 10 Combined sheet

3. Book of photographs (30 April 1942, 38 pages)

Folder 4. [North Wales and Manchester] Nord-Wales und Manchester

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 4, North Wales and Manchester (15 March 1942)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 15.iii.1942)
Oldham : BB 12a, b, c, d
Manchester : BB 12e, f, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s
Bolton : BB 12t, u
Warrington : BB 12v, w, x, y
Liverpool : BB 12aa, ab, ac, ad, ae, af, ag, ah, ai
Wolverhampton : BB 16 Combined sheet
Stoke on Trent : BB 16e, f

3. Book of photographs (31 March 1942, 70 pages)

Folder 5. There was no Sheet 5 in this Ordnance Survey quarter-inch series, hence no German folder.

Folder 6. [North Midlands] Nord-Midlands

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 6, North Midlands (31 December 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000(Dated 15.i.1942)
Burnley : BB 9a, b, c, d
Halifax : BB 9i, k, l, m
Bradford : BB 9n, o, p
Leeds : BB 9q, r, s, t, u, v
Dewsbury-Batley : BB 9w, x
Wakefield : BB 9y, z
Huddersfield : BB 9aa, ab, ac, ad
Sheffield : BB 13a, b, c, d, e
Lincoln : BB 14 Combined sheet
Grimsby : BB 14e, f
Nottingham : BB 17 Combined sheet
Derby : BB 17c, d, e
Leicester : BB 17f, g

3. Book of photographs (12 March 1942, 66 pages)

Folder 7. [South Wales] Süd-Wales

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 7, South Wales (August 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 30.xi.1941)
Swansea : BB 26 Combined sheet
Aberavon-Port Talbot : BB 26c, d
Newport : BB 27 Combined sheet
Cardiff : BB 32a, b, c

3. Book of photographs (30 November 1941, 39 pages)

Folder 8. Midlands

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 8, Midlands (August 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 31.xii.1941)
Walsall : BB 17h, i, k, l
Dudley : BB 22a, b, c, d, e
Birmingham : BB 23a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i
Coventry : BB 23 Combined sheet
Rugby : BB 23m, n
Northampton : BB 23
Gloucester : BB 27g, h, i, k
Oxford : BB 28 (1. 8. 1941)

3. Book of photographs (7 October 1941, 35 pages)

Folder 9. [East Anglia] Ost-Anglia

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 9, East Anglia (August 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000
Ipswich : BB 25 (1.8.1941)

3. Book of photographs (30 September 1941, 30 pages)

Folder 10. [England, South West] Südwest-England

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 10, England, South West (August 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 1.8.1941)
Exeter : BB 35
Plymouth : BB 36
Torquay : BB 36

3. Book of photographs (18 September 1941, 24 pages)

Folder 11. [England, South] Süd-England

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 11, England, South (August 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 1.8.1941)
Bath : BB 32
Bristol : BB 32
Bournemouth : BB 38
Portsmouth : BB 38
Southampton : BB 38

3. Book of photographs (5 October 1941, 35 pages)

Folder 12. [England, South East and London] Südost-England und London

1. 1:250,000 : Sheet 12, England, South East and London (August 1941)

2. Town plans 1:10,000 (Dated 1.8.1941)
Reading : BB 33
Brighton : BB 39
Dover : BB 40
Folkestone : BB 40
Folkestone : BB 40, another copy dated 4.41

3. Book of photographs (2 October 1941, 66 pages)

End of Section 1
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Section 2 : Small Folders : Book and maps

Mappe A : Militärgeographische Angaben über England
(London siehe Mappe B)

Military and geographical assessment of England

(3 Auflage, Abgeschlossen am 31 August 1941)
(3rd Edition, completed 31 August 1941)

Content
Five books and eight folding maps giving an overview of the geographical and industrial background useful to an invading force.

A nice, clean, very bright set in a slightly faded folder.

Folder A (3rd Edition, completed 31 August 1941)
(Mappe A)
1. Book. Text. 3rd edition.
Completed 31 August 1941. 106 pages with folding map of industries.
(Textheft. 3 auflage. (London siehe auch Mappe B))

2. Book. Gazetteer. 3rd edition.
Completed 31 August 1941. 165 pages. Each place is described and given a map reference.
(Ortschaftsverzeichnis. 3 auflage.(London siehe Mappe B))

3. Book. Photographs of the whole of England except London. 3rd edition.
Completed 1 September 1940. 177 pages with list of images at the back.
(Bildheft England insgesamt. 3 auflage. (London siehe Sonderheft in Mappe B))

4. Map. 1:1,000,000 Great Britain and Ireland, physical features, with sheet lines of 1:100,000 series overprinted.
Released 1941.
(Übersichtskarte)

5. Map. 1:500,000 England South. Planning map.
Released 15.8.1940.
(Militärgeographische Operationskarte Süd und Mittlelengland)

6. Map. 1:1,000,000 Great Britain and Ireland, railways with index of stations.
Special edition 8. 1941.
(Eisenbahnnetz mit stationsverzeichnis)

7. Book. Index of stations for the map of Great Britain and Ireland.
Completed 1. August 1940. 34 pages, for stations on item 6.
(Stationsverzeichnis zu 6)

8. Map. 1:1,000,000 Great Britain, main roads.
Special edition 7.40.
(Fernverkehrsstrassen)

9. Map. 1:1,000,000 Great Britain, trunk roads and waterways.
Special edition 7.40.
(Übersicht der Gewässer)

10. Map. 1:1,000,000 Great Britain and Ireland, telephone and telegraph offices, radio installations.
Situation on 1.9.1940.
(Fernsprech- und Telegraphennetz; Funkstellen (Rückseite)

11. Map. 1:1,000,000 England and Scotland, electricity and power stations.
Special edition 1940.
(Elektrizitätsversorgung)

12. Map. 1:1,000,000 England, population distribution.
Released 1.8.1940.
(Bevölkerungsverteilung 1931)

13. Book. Town plans. 2nd revised edition.
Completed 1 August 1941. 160 town plans (except London), index map and alphabetical index to towns.
(Stadtdurchfahrtpläne England (ohne London). 2. verbesserte Auflage)
Second copy of item 13 included : Completed 30 June 1940.

End of Folder A (Mappe A)
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Mappe B : Militärgeographische Angaben über England, London

Military and geographical assessment of England, London

(2 Auflage, Abgeschlossen am 1 September 1940)
(2nd edition, completed 1 September 1940)

Content
A book of text and photographs which concentrates on the river, docks and industries. Four detailed maps and one general map. Chris Board has written that these maps of London were probably 'the most accurate and complete topographic depiction of London in 1939-41'.

Two different editions are in this collection.

Set one : Completed 1 September 1940.

Contents very nice, bright crisp copies. Good folder, slightly faded at the edges.

Folder B : London (2nd edition, completed 1 September 1940) (Mappe B)
1. Book. Photographs with text.
Completed 1 September 1940. 18 pages text, 38 pages photographs.
(Text- und Bildheft. 2. Auflage. Abgeschlossen am 1. September 1940)

2. Map. 1:50,000 map of London [and environs]
1940.
(Verkehrsplan von London [und umgebung])

3. Map. 1:20,000 NW, NE, SW, SE maps of London, with significant sites highlighted (4 maps).
Provisional special edition, all sheets 7.40.
(Stadtplan von London [mit objekten].)

Set two : Completed 31 August 1941.

Book cover slightly grubby, internally clean with slight water staining. The maps have been used but are good clean copies. Folder slightly grubby with a faded spine.

Folder B : London (2nd edition, completed 31 August 1941) (Mappe B)
1. Book. Photographs with text.
Completed 15 August 1941. 18 pages text, 51 pages photographs.
(Text- und Bildheft. 2. Auflage. Abgeschlossen am 15. August 1941)

2. Map. 1:50,000 map of London [and environs]
8.1940.
(Verkehrsplan von London [und umgebung])

3. Map. 1:20,000 NW, NE, SW, SE maps of London, with significant sites highlighted (4 maps).
Information correct as at 30.11.1941, all sheets.
(Stadtplan von London [mit objekten]. Militärgeogr. Angaben nach den bis zum 30.XI. 1941 vorhandenen Unterlagen.)

End of Folder B (Mappe B)
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Mappe C : Küstenbeschreibungen

Descriptions of the coast

(Text und Bildhefte mit Kartenanlagen)
(Text and photographs with fold-out maps)

Content
Six books containing 1276 photographs of coastal locations, with 164 pages of supporting text, 25 folding maps and 40 map extracts. Photographs show features such as harbours, docks, beaches, promenades, aerial views of towns, coastal landmarks and typical inland scenery. The photographs would help in selecting invasion beaches, and would give and idea of what an invading force would find.

Nice bright copies of each item, slight fading to some covers. The pale green folder is not present, but is assumed to have existed.

1. Book. East Coast (Humber to the Firth of Tay).
Completed 15 October 1940. 28 pages text, 114 pages photographs, 5 coloured folding maps.
(Ostküste (Nördlicher Teil vom Humber bis zum Firth of Tay) Text und Bildheft mit Kartenanlagen.)

2. Book. East Coast (Margate to the Humber). Completed 30 August 1940. 18 pages text, 86 pages photographs, 6 coloured folding maps.
(Ostküste (Südlicher Teil von Margate bis zum Humber) Text und Bildheft mit Kartenanlagen.)

3. Book. South Coast.
Completed 15 August 1940. viii and 13 pages of indexes, 446, pages photographs, 40 coloured map extracts, 3 coloured folding maps. 32 and 16 pages of supplementary photographs (completed 28 August 1940 and 29 August 1940)
(Südküste. Text und Bildheft mit Kartenanlagen, mit 1. und 2. Nachtrag

4. Book. South Coast (Littlehampton to Margate). 3rd supplement.
Completed 31 May 1941. 34 'pages' with 115 photographs, 1 coloured folding map.
(Südküste. 3. Nachtrag zum text und Bilheft. Geneigtaufnahmen vom Ostabschnitt (Littlehampton bis Margate) mit Text und Kartenanlage.)

5. Book. West Coast (Great Ormes Head to Oban).
Completed 28 February 1941. 68 pages text, pages 69-317 photographs, 6 coloured folding maps.
(Westküste---Nördlicher Teil (Von Great Ormes Head bis Oban) Text und Bildheft mit Kartenanlagen.)

6. Book. West Coast (Cornwall to Anglesey).
Completed 27 December 1940. 50 pages text, pages 51-270 photographs, 4 coloured folding maps.
(Westküste---Südlicher Teil (Von Cornwall bis Anglesey) Text und Bildheft mit Kartenanlagen.)

End of Folder C (Mappe C)
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Militärgeographische Angaben über Irland

Military and geographical assessment of Ireland

(Abgeschlossen am 30. September 1940)
(Completed 30 September 1940)

Ireland : We have included the Irish material from the Mil-Geo series, which was produced to the same specifications as the above. We assume this was contained in two folders. We offer one folder with full contents and one of two books (the other is lacking, as, we assume, is the second card folder).

Green folder
Content
Three books and seven folding maps giving an overview of the geographical and industrial background useful to an invading force.

Most items are in good clean condition. The book of photographs, Item 2 is lacking the front cover, two preliminary pages and pages 115-120 inclusive of photographs, which are represented as photocopies. Folder is clean with two short tears on the spine.

1. Book. Text.
Completed 30 September 1940. 78 pages with folding map of industries.
(Textheft)

2. Book. Photographs of Ireland.
121 pages, with folding map of photograph locations. Note :Lacking the front cover, two preliminary pages and pages 115-120 inclusive of photographs, which are represented as photocopies.
(Bildheft)

3. Map. 1:1,000,000 General map of Ireland.
Released 9.1940.
(Übersichtskarte)

4. Map. 1:750,000 Ireland, electricity power supply.
Released September 1940.
(Hochspannungsleitungen und Stationen der elektrischen stromversorgung)

5. Map. 1:1,000,000 Ireland, railways with index of stations.
Released 9 1940.
(Eisenbahnnetz mit Stationsverzeichnis)

6. Map. 1:1,000,000 Ireland, radio installations, telephone and telegraph offices.
Released 9 1940.
(Funkstellen, Fernsprech- und Telegraphennetz)

7. Map. 1:326,800 Ireland, road map, emphasising traffic difficulties.
Two sheets (North and South).
Released 9 1940.
(Strassenkarte mit Hervorhebung der wichtigsten Geländehindernisse)

8. Book. Town plans.
Completed 30 September 1940. 25 town plans, with alphabetical index to towns.
(Stadtdurchfahrtpläne Irland)

9. Map. 1:25,000 Dublin town plan with significant sites highlighted.
Released September 1940.
(Stadtplan mit eintragungen)

10. Map. 1:10,000 Belfast town plan with significant sites highlighted.
Released September 1940.
(Stadtplan mit eintragungen)

Book
Content
Photographs of the coast, together with sketch diagrams of the coast to help identify locations from offshore. Text describes the coast.

Slightly creased, foxed and dusty cover edges, slightly foxed internally. Maps slightly dusty. A good sound, internally clean copy.

1. Book. West and North Coast (Mizen Head to Malin Head).
Completed 15 October 1941. 54 pages of text, pages 55-207 are photographs, 4 coloured folding maps.
(West- und Nordküste. Text und Bildheft mit Kartenanlagen.)

2. Book. East and South Coast. (Süd und Ostküste)

Assumed to exist but lacking from this collection.

The complete collection of all items for England and Wales, plus material for Ireland, £10,600.

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