Operation Sea Lion - Wikipedia Towards that end, 16th Army's Artillerie Kommando 106 was slated to land with the second wave to provide fire protection for the transport fleet as early as possible. The plan was that three days before the actual invasion, the troopships would load the men and equipment of four divisions in major Norwegian and German ports and put to sea, before unloading them again on the same day in quieter locations. The Type B required a longer external ramp (11 meters) with a float attached to the front of it. Listed in rough chronological order. Seven of these weapons, six 28cm K5 pieces and a single 21cm (8.3in) K12 gun with a range of 115km (71mi), could only be used against land targets. Although the Royal Navy could not bring the whole of its naval superiority to bear as most of the fleet was engaged in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and a substantial proportion had been detached to support Operation Menace against Dakar the British Home Fleet still had a very large advantage in numbers. Rations for two weeks were to be provided to the German troops of the first wave because the armies had been instructed to live off the land as far as possible in order to minimise supply across the Channel during the initial phase of the battle. [66], The Luftwaffe had formed its own special command (Sonderkommando) under Major Fritz Siebel to investigate the production of landing craft for Sea Lion. [137] British intelligence further calculated that Folkestone, the largest harbour falling within the planned German landing zones, could handle 150 tons per day in the first week of the invasion (assuming all dockside equipment was successfully demolished and regular RAF bombing raids reduced capacity by 50%). Jeschonnek proposed large bombing attacks so that responding RAF fighters could be shot down. The first wave of the landing would have consisted of thirteen infantry and mountain divisions, the second wave of eight panzer and motorised infantry divisions and finally, the third wave was formed of six further infantry divisions. The Navy High Command increased its initial order for 60 of these vessels to 70 in order to compensate for expected losses. [113] On 23 September 1941, Hitler ordered all Sea Lion preparations to cease, but it was 1942 before the last of the barges at Antwerp were returned to trade. [76], Experiments conducted at the end of June and early July at Schilling, near Wilhelmshaven, showed that the submersible tanks functioned best when they were kept moving along the seabed as, if halted for any reason, they tended to sink into the seabed and remain stuck there. Dr Andrew Gordon, in an article for the Royal United Services Institute Journal[128] agrees with this and is clear in his conclusion the German Navy was never in a position to mount Sealion, regardless of any realistic outcome of the Battle of Britain. Operation Sea Lion (Invasion of Britain) in WWII - ThoughtCo Nevertheless, both the German Army and Navy undertook a major programme of preparations for an invasion: training troops, developing specialised weapons and equipment, and modifying transport vessels. For the 1974 wargame based on this plan, see, Other equipment to be used for the first time, sfn error: no target: CITEREFBishop2010 (, Messerschmitt Bf 110 Bombsights Over England: Erprobungsgruppe 210 in the Battle of Britain by John Vasco. The Kriegsmarine had taken some small steps in remedying the landing craft situation with construction of the Pionierlandungsboot 39 (Engineer Landing Boat 39), a self-propelled shallow-draft vessel which could carry 45 infantrymen, two light vehicles or 20 tons of cargo and land on an open beach, unloading via a pair of clamshell doors at the bow. Here are ten shocking ways the Second World War could have unfolded differently than it did. [157] Hitler decreed that Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of Winston Churchill, was to serve as the overall headquarters of the German occupation military government. 9 Allied Military Operations in North Africa . [25] Nor did Directive 16 provide for a combined operational headquarters, similar to the Allies' creation of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) for the later Normandy landings, under which all three service branches (Army, Navy, and Air Force) could work together to plan, co-ordinate, and execute such a complex undertaking. It could only be the final act of an already victorious war against Britain as otherwise the preconditions for success of a combined operation would not be met". "[56], The Kriegsmarine invested considerable energy in planning and assembling the forces for an elaborate deception plan called Operation Herbstreise or "Autumn Journey". They tried that and . The result was Germany losing its entire invasion force. 9 Instructions For Warfare Against The Economy of the Enemy, "Directive No. [79] Krupp's design won out, as it only required one day to install, as opposed to twenty-eight days for the Dortmunder Union bridge. The plan revised on 14 September 1940 by Admiral Gnther Ltjens called for three groups of five U-boats, all seven destroyers, and seventeen torpedo boats to operate to the west of the mine barrier in the Channel, while two groups of three U-boats and all the available E-boats to operate north of it. The Germans converted 52 of these tanks to amphibious use prior to Sea Lion's cancellation. Adolf Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 drove Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II. [96], The presence of these batteries was expected to greatly reduce the threat posed by British destroyers and smaller craft along the eastern approaches as the guns would be sited to cover the main transport routes from Dover to Calais and Hastings to Boulogne. Anti-German newspapers were to be closed down.[169]. On 1 May 1941, fresh invasion orders were issued under the codename Haifische (shark), accompanied by additional landings on the southwest and northeast coasts of England codenamed Harpune Nord and Harpune Sd (harpoon north and south), although commanders of naval stations were informed that these were deception plans. Converting the assembled barges into landing craft involved cutting an opening in the bow for off-loading troops and vehicles, welding longitudinal I-beams and transverse braces to the hull to improve seaworthiness, adding a wooden internal ramp and pouring a concrete floor in the hold to allow for tank transport. [147] Hitler professed an admiration for the British Empire and preferred to see it preserved as a world power, mostly because its break-up would benefit other countries far more than it would Germany, particularly the United States and Japan. It was easily transportable by rail. Control of the skies was still lacking, and co-ordination among three branches of the armed forces was out of the question. No beach landings were attempted. [67], The Type C barge was specifically converted to carry the Panzer II amphibious tank (Schwimmpanzer). It involved dropping wires across high voltage wires, and was probably as dangerous to the aircraft crews as to the British. The invasion threat - The Battle of Britain - New Zealand History It was proposed to build enough tractors that one or two could be assigned to each invasion barge, but the late date and difficulties in mass-producing the vehicle prevented this.[81]. Once the tank reached the shore, all covers and seals could be blown off via explosive cables, enabling normal combat operation. Hitler's main interest was the question of countering potential Russian intervention. [10][11], Germany's swift and successful occupation of France and the Low Countries gained control of the Channel coast, facing what Schmid's 1939 report called their "most dangerous enemy". Recognising the need for an even larger craft capable of landing both tanks and infantry onto a hostile shore, the Kriegsmarine began development of the 220-ton Marinefhrprahm (MFP) but these too were unavailable in time for a landing on British soil in 1940, the first of them not being commissioned until April 1941. The Schwimmpanzer II Panzer II, at 8.9 tons, was light enough to float with the attachment of long rectangular buoyancy boxes on each side of the tank's hull. See British army anti invasion preparations. Hitler's . (1988). Despite the continuing war with Great Britain, German forces invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. Without the second and third echelons, the forces ashore were cut off from reserves of artillery, vehicles, fuel and ammunition supplies; and blocked from further reinforcements. But he never got to use it. Hitler's last recorded order with reference to Sea Lion was on 24 January 1944, reusing equipment that was still stockpiled for the invasion and stating that twelve months' notice would be given of its resumption. [162], After the war rumours also emerged about the selection of either Joachim von Ribbentrop or Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, for the "viceregal" office of Reichskommissar fr Grobritannien ("Imperial Commissioner for Great Britain"). [118] He observed that Napoleon had failed to invade and the difficulties that confounded him did not appear to have been solved by the Sea Lion planners. [147][148] Britain's situation was likened to the historical situation of the Austrian Empire after its defeat by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866, after which Austria was formally excluded from German affairs but would prove to become a loyal ally of the German Empire in the pre-World War I power alignments in Europe. On 4 July, after asking General Erich Marcks to begin planning an attack on Russia, Halder heard from the Luftwaffe that they planned to eliminate the RAF, destroying its aircraft manufacturing and supply systems, with damage to naval forces as a secondary aim. On the next day, Halder dismissed the navy's claims and required a new plan. Disadvantages of this set-up included an inability to back the vessel astern, limited manoeuvrability and the deafening noise of the engines which would have made voice commands problematic. [75], The Tauchpanzer or deep-wading tank (also referred to as the U-Panzer or Unterwasser Panzer) was a standard Panzer III or Panzer IV medium tank with its hull made completely waterproof by sealing all sighting ports, hatches and air intakes with tape or caulk. [106] On 17 September 1940, Hitler held a meeting with Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring and Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt during which he became convinced the operation was not viable. A Channel 5 documentary broadcast on 16 July 2009 repeated the claim that the Germans intended to restore Edward VIII to the throne in the event of a German occupation. But then the accumulation of invasion barges in French ports from late August 1940 rather indicated a landing on the South coast. This article is about the planned German invasion of Britain. The RAF was to be "beaten down in its morale and in fact, that it can no longer display any appreciable aggressive force in opposition to the German crossing". Germany and collaborating authorities soon initiated anti-Jewish policies and laws in occupied western Europe. Lacking purpose-built landing craft and both doctrinal and practical experience with amphibious warfare, the Kriegsmarine was largely starting from scratch. Fleming states it is doubtful whether history offers any better example of a victor so nearly offering his vanquished foe an opportunity of inflicting on him a resounding defeat. However, the pre-emptive destruction of a large part of the French fleet by the British at Mers-el-Kbir by the French themselves ensured that this could not happen. [126] Len Deighton and some other writers have called the German amphibious plans a "Dunkirk in reverse". Submersible tanks could operate in water up to a depth of 15 metres (49ft). Following the Battle of France, Adolf Hitler, the German Fhrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, hoped the British government would accept his offer to end the war,[4] and he reluctantly considered invasion only as a last resort if all other options failed. The ANTON minefield (off Selsey Bill) and the BRUNO minefield (off Beachy Head), each totalling over 3,000 mines in four rows, would have blocked off the invasion beaches against naval forces from Portsmouth, while the counterpart CAESAR minefield would have blocked off beach 'B' from Dover. The British had between 700 and 800 small coastal craft (MTBs, Motor Gun Boats and smaller vessels), making them a critical threat if the Luftwaffe could not deal with the force. The success of the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, on 9 April 1940, had relied extensively on the use of paratroop and glider-borne formations (Fallschirmjger) to capture key defensive points in advance of the main invasion forces. [47], The record of the Luftwaffe against naval combat vessels up to that point in the war was poor. The first echelon would land on the beaches on S-tag itself, preferably at daybreak around two hours after high tide. This was due to the ballast needed to offset the weight of the tanks, and the requirement that the coasters be grounded to prevent them from capsizing as the tanks were transferred by crane onto the vessel's wooden side ramps. [22][19], Grand Admiral Raeder sent a memorandum to OKW on 19 July, complaining about the onus placed on the navy in relation to the army and air force, and stating that the navy would be unable to achieve its objectives. towed) inland waterways vessels as they shuttled slowly between the Continent to the invasion beaches and any captured harbours. This unit consisted of twenty-four 15cm (5.9in) and seventy-two 10cm (3.9in) guns. 2. Hitler told them that the British had no hope of survival, and ought to negotiate, but were hoping to get Russia to intervene and halt German oil supplies. Others pushed for blockades that would cripple the English economy. [73] Four coasters were converted to auxiliary gunboats by the addition of a single 15 cm naval gun and another was fitted with two 10.5 cm guns, while a further twenty-seven smaller vessels were converted into light gunboats by attaching a single ex-French 75 mm field gun to an improvised platform; these were expected to provide naval gunfire support as well as fleet defence against modern British cruisers and destroyers.[74]. [37] A single airborne division would land in Kent north of Hythe; with the objective of seizing the aerodrome at Lympne and bridge-crossings over the Royal Military Canal, and in assisting the ground forces in capturing Folkestone. [76], Fresh air for both the crew and engine was drawn into the tank via an 18m long rubber hose to which a float was attached to keep one end above the water's surface. [168] The RSHA planned to take over the Ministry of Information, to close the major news agencies and to take control of all of the newspapers. [54] In his memoirs, Erich Raeder, commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine in 1940, wrote: [U]p until now the British had never thrown the full power of their fleet into action. A safer and faster method was needed and the Germans eventually settled on providing some tanks with floats and making others fully submersible. The Germans had done little planning, and the Luftwaffe was not prepared to contest British airspace in any event. Detailed plans were to be made to attack the Soviet Union. For the landings on the other three beaches, the first echelon of the invasion forces (and their equipment) would be loaded onto their barges in French or Belgian ports, while the second echelon force crossed the channel in associated transport vessels. They had the advantage of being able to unload their tanks directly into water up to 15 metres (49ft) in depth, several hundred yards from shore, whereas the unmodified Type A had to be firmly grounded on the beach, making it more vulnerable to enemy fire. German military strategy involved invading the neutral Low Countries (Belgium . 16, setting in motion preparations for a landing in Britain. VI-17 VI-18. What If Germany Had Invaded England? We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. Only nine destroyers were sunk by air attack in 1940, out of a force of over 100 operating in British waters at the time. [69], By 1 October 128 Type A barges had been converted to airscrew propulsion and, by the end of the month, this figure had risen to over 200. In addition, wider raids gave aircrew experience of day and night navigation, and tested the defences. Most likely not given that it took Britain and the USA years of preparation and planning (plus complete air and naval superiority) to successfully execute an amphibious assault across the English Channel. Most historians agree Sea Lion would have failed regardless because of the weakness of the German Kriegsmarine compared to the Royal Navy. Operation Sea Lion (wargame) - Wikipedia Referred to as the "German jetty" by local inhabitants, they remained standing for the next thirty-six years until demolition crews finally removed them in 197879, a testament to their durability. After the Second Armistice at Compigne with France, when he expected an imminent British capitulation, Hitler did however assure Bohle that he would be the next German ambassador to the Court of St. James's "if the British behave[d] sensibly".[163]. [18], On 2 July, the OKW asked the services to start preliminary planning for an invasion, as Hitler had concluded that invasion would be achievable in certain conditions, the first of which was command of the air, and specifically asked the Luftwaffe when this would be achieved. The equipment for dropping the wires was fitted to the Bf 110 aeroplanes and tested. One complication was the tidal flow in the English Channel, where high water moves from west to east, with high water at Lyme Regis occurring around six hours before it reaches Dover. However, despite firing on frequent slow moving coastal convoys, often in broad daylight, for almost the whole of that period (there was an interlude in 1943), there is no record of any vessel being hit by them, although one seaman was killed and others were injured by shell splinters from near misses. In his fictional alternate history Invasion: the German invasion of England, July 1940, Kenneth Macksey proposes that the Germans might have succeeded if they had swiftly and decisively begun preparations even before the Dunkirk evacuations, and the Royal Navy for some reason had held back from large-scale intervention,[129] though in practice the Germans were unprepared for such a speedy commencement of their assault. Dnitz stated, "[W]e possessed neither control of the air or the sea; nor were we in any position to gain it". Once Churchill was in power and once the cigar-chomper had stamped his will on the war cabinet the first was never going to happen. Fear permeated and paralyzed the German high command in the weeks that followed. OPERATION 'BARBAROSSA'. In fact they had neither the tools or the training". Background With the German victory over Poland in the opening campaigns of World War II, leaders in Berlin commenced planning for fighting in the west against France and Britain. Moored ships could then either unload their cargo directly onto the roadbed or lower it down onto waiting vehicles via their heavy-duty booms. Around 1,300 of the 22nd Air Landing Division had been captured (subsequently shipped to Britain as prisoners of war), around 250 Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft had been lost, and several hundred elite paratroops and air-landing infantry had been killed or injured. The OKW assessed alternatives, including attacking the British in the Mediterranean, and favoured extended operations against England while remaining on good terms with Russia. Even the Kriegsmarine's Naval Operations Office deemed this a plausible and desirable goal, especially given the relatively short distance, 34km (21mi), between the French and English coasts. What if Hitler invaded Great Britain instead of USSR. With the prospect of the Channel ports falling under Kriegsmarine (German Navy) control, Grand Admiral (Groadmiral) Erich Raeder (head of the Kriegsmarine) attempted to anticipate the obvious next step that might entail and instructed his operations officer, Kapitn Hansjrgen Reinicke, to draw up a document examining "the possibility of troop landings in England should the future progress of the war make the problem arise". 21 on 18 December 1940 instructing the Wehrmacht to be ready for a quick attack to commence his long planned invasion of the Soviet Union. Trials showed that this process of trans-shipment in open sea, in any circumstances other than flat calm, would likely take at least 14 hours,[63] such that the disembarkation of the first wave might extend over several tides and several days, with barges and invasion fleet subsequently needing to be escorted together back across the Channel for repairs and reloading. For an invasion to work the Germans had to take out the RAF in order to have total air superiority over the channel to defend any invasion force from the fleet. [94], Better suited for use against naval targets were the four heavy naval batteries installed by mid-September: Friedrich August with three 30.5cm (12.0in) barrels; Prinz Heinrich with two 28cm guns; Oldenburg with two 24cm weapons and, largest of all, Siegfried (later renamed Batterie Todt) with a pair of 38cm (15in) guns. The most daunting problem for Germany in protecting an invasion fleet was the small size of its navy. The Kriegsmarine wanted the front to be as short as possible, as it regarded this as more defensible. German forces employed some tactics associated with blitzkrieg in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and the invasion of Poland in 1939 . How Nazi Germany Could Have Crushed Russia During World War II [130] The German official naval war historian, Vice Admiral Kurt Assmann, wrote in 1958: "Had the German Air Force defeated the Royal Air Force as decisively as it had defeated the French Air Force a few months earlier, I am sure Hitler would have given the order for the invasion to be launched and the invasion would in all probability been smashed". German Invasion Plans for the British Isles, Ed Rob Wheeler. What if Hitler Had Invaded Britain? - The New York Times This was reduced to six units by the autumn of 1941, and eventually cancelled altogether when it became apparent that Sea Lion would never take place. [22][23], Hitler's directive set four conditions for the invasion to occur:[24], This ultimately placed responsibility for Sea Lion's success squarely on the shoulders of Raeder and Gring, neither of whom had the slightest enthusiasm for the venture and, in fact, did little to hide their opposition to it. [111], While the bombing of Britain intensified during the Blitz, Hitler issued his Directive No. Germany invades Poland. Despite the fact that it never ended up happening, a Nazi invasion of England was kind of a common sense inevitability for a while during the beginning of World War 2.