Operation Sealion was the proposed German invasion of England, intended for September 1940. It didn’t go ahead, but as a subject, it leaves us with a great ‘what if’ to explore.
In 1974 The Daily Telegraph newspaper in association with the Department of War Studies at Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, ran a large wargame covering Operation Sealion.
At the table were 6 players, each a significant figure from various branches of the armed forces and so this was no ordinary wargame, but one in which each of the participants had unique insight into the realities of what could and could not be done within this semi-fictitious setting. It would involve the real battle plans and military capability of both sides, but in the game, the invasion actually went ahead. Apparently at the end of the game, those present felt that the outcomes from the game were in fact the most probable.
In 1975 Richard Cox gave us his novel, ‘Operation Sealion’. It drew upon the conduct of that wargame as a narrative framework, giving us an imagined account that starts just a few hours before the invasion, seen through the eyes of both military and civilian experiences.
The first two thirds of the book gives us the story of the invasion and the response of Britain and her allies. The final third of the book provides a number of informative chapters by various authors, giving insight into the various realities of politics, resources, organisation, preparation and the central characters of the time that success or failure of Sealion might hang on.
I will avoid mentioning how the campaign concluded, allowing for the dear reader who may well want to find that out for themselves in the book. I have recently bought an out of print boardgame that covers the subject and I shall bring that to the table and conduct my own ‘Sealion’ to see where that ends up, no doubt the book will enhance the enjoyment and understanding of the game.
Cox opens with dawn, 23rd September 1940 as the first 8000 Fallachirmjägers, 600 Junkers and 52 Transports pass over the Kentish coast at Hythe. Barges and motor boats head for beaches between Folkstone and Seaford, loaded with infantry divisions with the prime aim of capturing most of southern England within 10 days. Their recent victories of France, Holland and Belgium made these young soldiers confident, competent and enthusiastic.
‘A huge flotilla of German barges stretch across the whole sweep of Dymchurch Bay and planes overhead in their hundreds head towards Hythe and Saltwood’.
‘There were 300 Home Guard in Hythe and not all had rifles yet’.
‘Beaches at Dungeness, cuckmerehaven and Newhave were being assaulted and in the first three days 110,167 men came ashore’
‘It had been predicted that it would take eight days for the Germans to gain Kent and Surrey’.
‘Several of the Junker 52’s were shot down. One crashed on the little golf course by the Imperial Hotel, setting off half a dozen teller Mines’.
“Latest reports show they have taken Dymchurch, Camber and Pevensey, Sir”.
Peter Fleming, brother of the famous Ian Fleming (Bond Writer) worked in intelligence and he was responsible for creating the ‘Stay Behind Parties’, small groups of citizens that would sabotage supply lines and the rear echelon. These groups had a life expectancy of around two weeks.
‘The South Westerly wind had risen to Force 4 and the waves had reached almost the maximum that the Rhine barges could cope with’.
RAF report … September 23rd …. 237 of our Aircraft are out of action from a total strength of 1048 operation aircraft, plus another 192 in store.
Australian and New Zealander formations that had been recently rescued from the Dunkirk beaches were on hand to put in prompt counter-attacks.
The German second echelon totalled 500 guns, 900 tanks, 3,500 vehicles, 7000 horses and 24,000 men. They needed a port and so the capture of Folkstone became a critical German objective.
Within a few days, enough territory had been taken to fly in the Reichsprotektor, an SS officer who represented Hitler on British soil and was tasked with running security. His first proclamation concerning an incident local to his headquarters - “Unless information leading to the arrest of the saboteurs is received by the authorities, the hostages from the village will be shot”.
I shall leave it there.
Richard Cox was a pilot and reserve paratrooper major and for some years was a war correspondent. His book was first published in 1975 and the most recent edition was published in 2024 by Silvertail Books. I picked my copy up on the Kindle for a holiday read.
Note, if you do a computer search on ‘Paddy Griffith Operation Sealion’, you will be given an Amazon page that shows a book about the actual Sealion wargame played at Sandhurst.
I will come back to this once I have played the boardgame.
Please note, I also run a small website called COMMANDERS that is a bit more snippet based than here and has more frequent posts;
LINK
