| Citation/Reference |
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 eleven A4 sized folders (numbered 1 to 12, folder 5 was never issued as there
was no Sheet 5 in this Ordnance Survey quarter-inch series, hence no German folder). Each
contains large scale town plans marked with strategic locations, a book of photographs and a
quarter-inch map of the area, each folder titled “Militärgeographische Einzelangaben über
England” (Maps of England showing features of military significance) and “Militärgeographische
Objektkarten mit Objektbildern” (Maps of military installations with photographs.” Also there are
three thick A5 sized folders containing books and maps: Folder A : England and Wales, on a
regional basis with numerous photographs and maps; Folder B : London, photographs and maps; and
Folder C : Books of coastal photographs to help with selecting invasion beaches. In addition,
there is material on the planned invasion of Ireland - Operation Green (Unternehmen Grün). There
are 144 six-inch town maps marked with strategic locations, and almost 1500 black and white
photographs. The maps are copies of Ordnance Survey maps, with overprints highlighting sites
which the Germans would have considered targets in any invasion. Most maps and books are headed:
“Nur für den Dienstgebrauch!” (For Official use only.) The maps were arranged in groups, based on
the Ordnance Survey Quarter-inch Fourth Edition sheet lines. 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. The town maps are 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. All folders
were issued in 1940, 1941 or 1942. (Text from David Archer's excellent description of the
collection, modified).
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