Unternehmen Seelöwe
("Operation Sea Lion" or "the Invasion of Britain")
1943-07-04
Unternehmen Seelöwe, the plan to invade Britain had been proposed as early as 1940 after the Fall of France, but until now we never had the necessary naval forces to attempt such an undertaking. With the completion of our newest three carriers and battleships, we now finally possess the capabilities to take on the Royal Navy in their own coastal waters. The operation is scheduled to start on the 2nd of August, with an invasion on a broad front from Bournemouth to Dover. But before we can start the invasion, we will have to secure the air superiority over the British Channel and southern England. The Luftwaffe has almost an entire month to eliminate all resistance from the Royal Air Force with an operation codenamed "Unternehmen Adler" (operation eagle), which aims at destroying the bases on the RAF on the ground and their fighters in the air.
After we have cleared the skies, the Kriegsmarine will blockade the channel and the invasion can begin. We've assembled two armies in northern France under the command of Field Marshal Ramcke's Army Group West: The 11th Army will ship out from Dieppe and attack the important port of Dover, while the 12th Army will attack Portsmouth and Bournemouth. Both invasion groups can unitize a corps of marines each as well as a total of five divisions of the new Panther tanks, four under the command of Rommel's 1st Panzer Corps and one under the command of the newly created 4th Panzer Corps, which currently has only divisional strength. The invasion itself will be supported by our paratroopers and a massive armada of close air support bombers. For operation eagle and the invasion we've stationed about 20 fighter and another 20 bomber wings along the channel coast on bases near Brest, Cherbourg, Lille, Antwerp and Amsterdam.
After the establishment of the initial beachhead and the capture of the harbor-installations in Dover and Portsmouth, the plan is to expand the bridgehead to the Thames river on a line from Bristol over Oxford to London. The scope of this operation is, once we have successfully established our foothold, to advance further north to a line from Liverpool to Hull. After we've occupy all of England and Wales, we will make new plans for the conquest of Scotland and Ireland, based on the situation as it presents itself then.
1943-07-05 "Adlertag"
Operation Eagle started today. An awesome armada of bomber aircrafts scrambled over the channel to knock out British airfields on the coast, while our best fighter aces engaged the enemy in deadly dogfights over enemy territory.
Heinkel bombers over the channel.
1943-07-08
The first results of operation eagle are promising. We've suffered some losses, but the enemy has almost been annihilated. Most of our losses were over British soil, but once the invasion starts we can liberate our captured pilots.
I also received an memo from my head of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Ritter von Greim, today in which he complained that his head of his fighter forces, Adolf Galland, was actively participating in the battle by flying combat missions himself. He was ordered to stay at his desk a while ago when he got the job, but I'm going to overlook this insubordination for now. Why not let him have some of the glory too?
Galland and his deputy/wingman, Günther Lützow, on their way to fly a mission over the channel.
1943-07-08
While we are preparing for the invasion of Britain in the west, our offensive in the east is continuing. We are advancing slower than we had hoped for, but we are making steady progress. After the destruction of the Red Army in Operation Citadel, the Russian troops we are now facing are mostly made up of poorly trained and equipped old men, women and young kids. The only real opposition is coming the recently transfered Japanese units that are now showing up on the eastern front in a few sectors. But our biggest problem is the lack of good roads and already considerable distance form our home country.
Militia units are now forming the bulk of the Russian forces.
1943-07-23
Today the first troops from the eastern front arrived back home. These units were freed up by the successful completion of Operation Citadel and for most enlisted men this is the first time that they are back in Germany for almost two years. The enormous logistical problems we were facing while we were fighting in Russia meant that a transfer back home during leave was impossible. Just another good reason to honor the returning veterans with a big victory parade in Berlin.
These troops won't be available in time to participate in Operation Sea Lion, but huge parades and festivities will help us to lull the British into a sense of false security.
The first stop for our troops returning from the eastern front: The victory parade in Berlin.
1943-07-31
The RAF is licking it's wounds, the festivities in Berlin and many other German cities are continuing, as more and more men are finally returning back home and our troops in the Normandy are standing by to cross the channel. Intelligence reports suggest that the enemy has suffered heavy losses in Africa and the Middle East, leaving their homeland dangerously ill defended, despite the presence of US expeditionary forces. After sorting through a small mountain of status reports form all of our involved units, I'm confident that the upcoming operation will be a success.
Officers observing a last trial run of the invasion on a French beach.
1943-08-02
Operation Sea Lion started today and I spent the entire day in the situation room of the OKW, excitedly listening to every new report that was announced by the staff of the telegraphy room. By the end of the day the fight for the three major harbors was still raging on, but we were able to land our forces in the area near East Sussex and Hampshire. Meanwhile the Royal Navy was trying to break through our blockade from both sides to disrupt our landing operations, but so far they have been successfully repelled.
The first day of the operation.
1943-08-03
After some heavy fighting the British Home Guard had to retreat from their defenses in Dover, Portsmouth and Bournemouth this night, giving us access to three only slightly damaged harbors. Over the course of the day the Royal Navy continued their push into the channel and a small group of ships was able to slip trough the blockade near the mouth of the Thames. They were able to fire a few shots at fleet of transports, that was returning back to their harbors in France, damaging three freighters before being sunk themselves. At the end of the day we had successfully established our beachhead in Southern Britain and lost only one heavy cruiser, the Prinz Eugen. The British on the other hand had suffered some heavy losses: The carriers HMS Glory and HMS Colossus, the battleships HMS Revenge, HMS Temeraire, HMS Price of Wales, HMS Ramillies and eight smaller escort ships.
Officers of the 1st Marine-Infanterie Corps at the white cliffs of Dover.