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QUESTION:(With apologies before to Alison Brookes, Ian Montgomerie and others who
have analyzed Sealion from top to bottom and found it highly
implausible.)
Was reading "Their Finest Hour" by WC and came across the following
response from Admiral Pound to a memo written by PM Churchill on 7/10/40
concerning the potential for a successful German invasion of Britain:
"It appears probable that a total of some hundred thousand men might
reach these shores without being intercepted by naval forces ... but the
maintenance of their line of supply, unless the German Air Force had
overcome both our Air Force and our Navy, seems practically
impossible... If the enemy undertook this operation, he would do so in
the hope that he would make a quick rush on London, living on the
country as he went, and force the Government to capitulate."
In response, Churchill commented:
"I was content with this estimate. As the enemy could not bring heavy
weapons with them, and would speedily have the supply lines of any
lodgments cut, the invading strength seemed even in July to be well with
the capacity of our rapidly improving army."
But what about June when England basically had little or nothing
available for home defense? Let's assume two PODs.
First, during the planning for Case Yellow, Hitler gets excited and
inspired by the possibility of landing in England once the channel ports
have been secured in accordance with Manstein's plan. He orders Raeder
to prepare a "just in case" plan for throwing an improvised force of
light infantry divisions at Dover should Britain look like it is
collapsing. This one time attack of roughly 3 to 6 divisions plus corps
and army troops is to be supported by one division plus of paratroopers
seizing nearby airfields. The Luftwaffe would supply air cover and
shuttle in what reinforcements and supplies it can to the captured
airfields. The invaders are to go in without heavy equipment and live
off the land as they advance on London. The object, echoing Admiral
Pound, is to force the government to capitulate. Planning and assembly
of Rhine craft and other shipping occurs during the "Phony War". Should
the opportunity present itself, the Germans at least have a plan ready
to go.
Secondly, the BEF is captured and destroyed at Dunkirk instead of
escaping. The opportunity for invasion looks to good to pass up in
early June 1940. With France on the ropes, Hitler orders the invasion.
Some questions:
Was Adm. Pound correct, could the Germans put 100k troops ashore before
the RN could react? With the invaders being resupplied by air and
living off the countryside, is there anything the RN could do to
intervene, or would they have to watch from the sidelines?
What did England have on the ground in June 1940? Any armored divisions
or brigades? Could Stukas be relied upon to act as both "flying
artillery" and anti-tank weapons in support of the German light infantry
- compensating for the lack of heavy equipment?
Would a German ground advance through Southeast England break the radar
screen that the RAF relied upon counter the Luftwaffe? How would the
RAF fair in high intensity dog fights with the Luftwaffe over SE England
instead of defending multiple air fields and cities? Could the Germans
resupply and reinforce through captured airfields, perhaps bringing in
another couple of stripped down infantry division by air?
Could such a 4 to 8 division army force its way into London given
available British ground forces? Would the British government seek and
armistice? Or would they really "fight in the fields" and "never
surrender". Could enough British units be raised or shipped from France
(or overseas) in time to stem the German invaders?
Does this low cost Sealion succeed, or do a half dozen German divisions
end up in British POW camps?
ANSWER: f they just don't fall over dead of boredom or something, I'd imagine
they would use a lot of the heavy equipment/arms that was lost during
the evac, to be used to shoot at the Nazis instead, causing much more
in losses that what they suffered during the run to the coast.
Heavy equipment, yes, not much modern though.
two bad things: even obsolete MkIV and Whippet tanks from the previous
war at the Armor training schools can make a mess of WW2 troops
without antitank weapons. Stukas don't have the loiter time over
England to do decent ground support operations
2nd, there were plenty of 18 pdrs from the Great War, and plenty of
Gas shells to use in them, along with larger railroad artillery.
Had Nazis landed in Southern England, Churchil would have approved the
use of Mustard and Lewisite wargasses.
That makes things pretty bleak fror the Nazis on the ground.
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