A top-secret Nazi war dossier has been uncovered revealing how German troops were planning to invade Britain using images from POST CARDS and CALENDARS to plot their attack.
The chilling booklet gives an insight into the reality that could have been if Adolf Hitler had successfully taken over Britain during the Second World War.
From UK cities earmarked for destruction to schools they planned to send their kids to, the book has been described as a ”Nazi A-Z of Great Britain.”
It shows how postcards identifying unmistakable landmarks such as Blackpool Tower and the Mersey Tunnel were given to troops to identify their targets in preparation for their blitz of the British Isles.
The documents include pictures of other key targets like the Tyne Bridge, in Newcastle and Salisbury Cathedral which the German High Command also considered of importance.
Other images of Bristol’s Clifton Suspension Bridge and Coventry Cathedral are said to have been used for German paratroopers to identify specific locations.
But it also shows Hitler’s longer-terms plans had he Nazis successfully settled on UK soil.
British stately homes and castles are identified as places where high-ranking Nazi officers wanted to live.
While historic Eton College, in Berkshire, was earmarked as the place Third Reich ministers would send their children to be educated.
The pictures were collected and numbered by military officials before they were prioritised on a series of 12 maps, which would have been handed to high-ranking Nazi officers during “Operation Sealion.”
On September 17, 1940 Hitler was forced to scrap the operation because of the Luftwaffe’s failure to gain air supremacy over the RAF during the Battle of Britain.
The offensive never took place after the German defeat in the skies, but experts believe the book reveals what could have happened if the Nazi’s had conquered.
The scarce copy of “Militargoegraphiscke Angaben uber England” published in 1940 has now been revealed for the first time after it was kept in the same family after the end of the war.
It is said to have been the most vital part of the extensively formed German attack plan, and included large colour maps showing all corners of Britain including Newcastle, Cardiff and Cambridge.
Plans of a strike on the south coast during the operation have been publicised before but this is the first time such detailed plans for mainland Britain have been seen.
Historical Documents Expert Richard Westwood-Brookes, of Mullocks Auctioneers, said: “This rare collection had come from a private collector who had been keeping it in a military library in Austria since 1945.
“It is a top-secret document which only high ranking officers would have had access to. There’s certainly not that many around.
“They would have been kept very safe at the time due to operational nature of them.
“It details the short and long-term plans that the Germans had for their invasion of Britain.
“From the targets they were going to strike for demolition in order cripple Churchill’s war effort to the stately homes high-ranking Nazi officers would reside in once they had conquered.
“The plans to strike the south coast as part of Operation Sealion have been well documented previously but this is one of the most detailed examples I have ever seen showing their wider plans for mainland Britain.
“It’s like the Nazi”s A-Z of Britain – it has everything from the topography of certain area’s to the numbers of homes, schools and hospitals they have.
“They even had detailed electricity distribution plans and populations for each town and city.
“In true German style it shows how meticulously planned this was and had been since the Nazis came into power.
“There are industrial targets in areas such as Birmingham and Coventry but also pictures of stately homes in the New Forest where they wanted to live.
“Most of the photos are aerial views as of course places look different from the air using paratroopers.”
Many of the images were obtained by Joachim von Ribbentrop – who was German ambassador to Britain in 1936.
After collecting postcards and calendars to send back home he went on to become Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany from 1938 until 1945.
He was arrested in June 1945, convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and became the first of those sentenced to death to be hanged.
Mr Westwood-Brookes added: ” Von Ribbentrop sent the images back to Germany while he lived in London.
“As a result, he was given a prominent role in the German high command.
“Many of the places would have just been used as a visual geographical guide to navigate the British isles with.
“It makes this operation such a much more worrying and chilling prospect when you see the place you are from or locations you recognise.
“It really brings home the reality of what might have been if the young men had not overcome the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.”
The document is expecting to fetch up to #500 when it goes under the hammer at Ludlow Race Course today (Tue).
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