Specialist Maps Prepared by German Military Geologists for Operation Sealion: the Invasion of England Scheduled for September 1940

Abstract

During the Second World War, the German army developed the largest organization of any nation ever to contribute military applications of earth science in wartime. In the summer of 1940, its military geologists assisted planning for potentially the greatest amphibious assault to that time in history by preparing maps which analysed the terrain of southeast England in terms of coastal geomorphology, groundwater supply, quarry sites for construction materials and off-road trafficability. These specialist maps were generated at scales of 1:50 000, 1:100 000 or 1:250 000 by annotating topographical base maps, derived from the then current Ordnance Survey maps at most similar scale, with data derived from maps and memoirs published by the Geological Survey of Great Britain or larger-scale Ordnance Survey maps. They represent an early example of geotechnical mapping skills developed more fully in the German armed forces for operations elsewhere later in the war.

Specialist Maps of the Geological Section, Inter-Service Topographical Department: Aids to British Military Planning During World War II

“…those for the invasion of England or the fortification of the Channel Islands, illustrated by Rose and Willig (2004), and Rose (2005a), were also typically single-theme in focus. The closest parallel for development of simplified Englishlanguage geological maps, intended to depict several different implications of geological features on a single map rather than several separate maps, is to be found in maps contemporaneously developed in the later years of World War II by the Strategic Branch of the Geological Survey of India (Rose, 2005b), e.g.…”

“…Their tasks included preparation of specialist maps to guide planning for the invasion of England in 1940 (Rose and Willig, 2004), and to assist fortification of the Channel Islands during their 1940-45 German occupation (Rose, 2005a). Such maps were mostly generated as geological team efforts, by small units of military geologists plus support staff established within the German army's military geological organization…”

Specialist Maps of the Channel Islands Prepared by German Military Geologists during the Second World War: German Expertise Deployed on British Terrain

“…They lacked the geological maps and memoirs used so extensively by German military geologists when preparing specialist maps for the invasion of southern England in 1940 (Rose and Willig, 2004). However, the islands had been subject to a long history of geological research, and syntheses published by 1940 included that by Parkinson and Plymen (1929) for the islands in general, and by Plymen (1921) for Jersey in particular.…”

“…The article complements a recent account (Rose and Willig, 2004) of specialist maps prepared by German military geologists earlier in the War (speedily and without access to ground truth, for an invasion of the British mainland) by providing an account of specialist maps also featuring British terrain but prepared in the light of greater combat experience (after longer-term study and actual ground investigation, and for use in defensive rather than offensive actions). These two accounts in The Cartographic Journal thus together illustrate roles in specialist mapping for the southern British Isles by the German army's military geological service -by far the largest organization formed by any nation to contribute military applications of earth science in wartime (Häusler, 1995a(Häusler, , b, 2000Häusler and Willig, 2000).…”

“…In the USA, the maps featured are preserved at the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland, as part of the Heringen Collection, filed within Record Group 57, line sequences 72 and 73, 'Mil Geol Branch: German geologic maps of Europe 1917-45', flats 20 and 23, folders 'Great Britain -Water Resources' and 'Great Britain -Channel Islands'. These maps, which include a few preliminary drafts, were sent for storage to the German army's military geological staff (Wehrgeologenstab) in Berlin when the authors ceased work on the Islands, and were amongst documents captured by American forces at the end of the War (Rose and Willig, 2004). No military geological maps are known from the Channel Islands themselves, presumably because the German armed forces based there systematically destroyed most of their records before surrender in May 1945 (Cruickshank, 1975, p. 296).…”