With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

From Hitler's secret dossier, British seaside snaps that set out his targets

They are quintessentially English seaside scenes which could easily be accompanied by the phrase: ‘Wish you were here’.

But in fact, these snapshots of the English coastline served a far more sinister purpose.
They appear in a top-secret dossier Adolf Hitler issued to senior officers in advance of his planned invasion-of Britain in 1940.

Featuring landmarks such as Brighton Pier and Land’s End, they were intended to help Nazi troops identify targets in Operation Sealion.

The booklet of postcard-like images pinpoints the quaint English coastal towns in the path of the Nazi ground assault, which could have been a grim reality had the RAF not performed so valiantly against the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.

The invaders' guide book also eerily shows how postcards identifying unmistakable landmarks such as Brighton Pier and Land's End were given to Nazi troops to identify their targets in preparation for their blitz of the British Isles.

The original copy of the Nazis' briefing book Militäergeographische Angaben über England Südküste for 'Operation Sealion' detailed every attack point and weakness along England's south coast ahead of the Germans' assault in September 1940....
Read entire article at Daily Mail (UK)