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The FUhrer'S
16 July 1940
? c opi es
4th c opy
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Secret
-Transmit b y of f i cer
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Genera l Order No. 16
on the p repara tion of a l an dine
agai n s t Eng L and ,
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ope ~a ti~ n
Since England ; de sp i te h~r mi l i t~r i l y hopeless situati on
sh ows n o sign ~ f willin6ness t o c ome t o t erms, '1 have deci de d
por e a lendi ne o pe r a t i on 8¢8inst Encland • . and if nec essary t o carr~
it o ut .
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The aim of : this cper atd on . i s t o elininat e the En~l:i, . s h h.:meland
a s a ba s i s f or the c arry~rlc on .o f ~he wa ±'aba i p s t GermanYi rind i~ 'l
should be come nece s sary t o oc cuPY Lt comp Le t.eLyj .
To this end I or cer the '. fo.l1 6\.'il , :
1.) The !&illlins.... I:lUS~ be ca±'r led put in ' h ie f oro of a sur- pr i s e
s i ng c~ a br cad ~f rv ht a~pro x lDe te ly f rom RaosGa te t o th e are a west
of the1s1 d ' of Wight , i n which a i r f orce units wi l l t ake the roll '
of a r t i l le r y , an d unit s of th e nQvy the r oll of the enGineers.
Whe t he r it is p r-ac t.i c e L t o und ert ake .sub c r-dj nat e actions, such as
t h e occup ati on o ~ t h e I sle of Wi 6 h t ,c r of ' Coun t y C0rnwall, be fo r e
the g en e r a l l~~~nB i s t o be ~e t eroi ned fr ore the st an dppint of ever
b ran ch· of th e .arms d f oro es and th e r esult t o be re.p o.rted t o me,, .r·
r 'es ef-ve the (':e c i 'S i on f or oys elf. The p repara t ion s :
~he entire
operati on must ?~ comp L e t ed by mid-Au:.:u s t .
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2j. To .t he s e P~q.:pq:.aui ons ai s o b e.l.onj the cre ati on \~ f: these c cnd i, tioIt
whi ch unake e LMdJ.n.:;· in EnGland possi ble.
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" , ( a . Th'e Engli sh ai r - fo r ce mu s t mor-al. Ly an d actuetly be so. ,f a r
.~ye~ aDme t that it ~ o e s ne t any l on Ger show any c ~n si d er able egressi
f Q~qe aga i n s t ' the German a t tack .
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. . ' h . Mi ne - f ree channels must be c re a t ed ,
c. ~y mea n s of a cl osely Gonc entrat e d mtn~r.pa r r ier'
of Dove r on bot h Fl anks a s we l.l, a s t he west ern 'ent r.an ce
ch annel in th e appr-ox i ma t e line Al cemey-Portlah d:-·o{fst be
d . The a rea in fr ontof the c oast must be dominated
a r t il le r y pro t e c t ion by strong c oastal a r t il l er y .
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e . : Tyi ns do wn o f the 'En;;;l i s h naval f ar ces in the North Sea .a
well as in the Med i te r ranean {by the Itali ans) is de s i red " wn e r eby
it mus t n ew be at t empt e d that the EnGlish naval f orces which arc
in the h omelan d [),3 damaged by air a nd t c rpe do attack in strenGth.
Organi zat io n of t he l eadership and of the preparations;
, f ,
_ Under my c crsmand and a c c or d Lng t o ziy e ene r a l di r e c t i::> n s tne -.
supreme comnanders will le a.d the f crces ~o b e us e d fr an their ' /
b ra n c he s of servic e. The c ommand-st affs o f the supr eme ccmmande r of
t he a rmy , the su preme c o~ ander of the Navy , a nd the supreme c o~nn
d e r o f th e ai r - fo r c e mus t fr oo 1 f~ue us t on b e l ooated within ' 8, ra
d i u s of at l e ast 50 krn. fr om ' my headquerters(Zie genber G). L o d ~ein3
th e c onna nd staffs of th e supreme c oranand er-s cf' the army an d navy.. '
t os ether at Gi e ssen appears pra c t i cal t o ce .
Hen ce f or the l eadership of t h e l an dinb a rci e s the supreme
c ommander of the army will hGve t o employ an ar o y ~ rou~
The p ro j e c t be a r s the co de-sname "SeeH3we" (Sea-li on).
.
In the prepara t io n and c arryinc c ut c f th e und er-t akt.ng' the .t rt.
Lowi ng t a sks fall t o the var i ous orun che s;
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h . Ar~y : will dr aw, Up thB ope ra t io na l plan an d th e trans ~ ort plan
f or a l l uni ts of the , ,l:';9:t wav e t o embark. The 1\.A ar t i l l er y.". t o be '
tra nsport ed wi th the ' il'st wave wi ll a t th e s ame ti ne b e at.t;.-.gAAed
t o the army ( t o th e Lnd i v i.dua L c r-e ss i ng Grcup s ) until such ,<G.,:~trine I ,
as a d i :ri s ic n of .t .a ske s in sup por-t ~nd p r o t.e c t io n of grou rid~ : ~tliti4P s
pr ot.ec t i on of t he p or t s of d eb a rka t Lon and p r ot.e c t i.on of :~.he~{~iiE?'
.ri·a
str ong po i nt s t o be oc cup ied. can be c arrie ~ 0';1 t , Th e Ar my '''fc41;:~~,' ,.'._
di s t r ib u te s t he mea n s of tr ansport t o t~~ Lnd i vi dual cr ossi-~··, "g ' .
and e s t ab l i s he s the 8mt arkati on and l anoJ.n i p o~nts in Q6reemen. •
the Navy"
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Navy; wi l l .s e cur e t he~' means ' of- ;t r 'an sp or t and will bring t hem '
rresp opding t o t he de s i r e s oii t he Army and a c c o rrd.ng to the r e-.',.
Lr-emen t s of se amanship into the indivi dual emberka ti on area s . '
safar' as po ss ib le ship s of t he :d e f e at e d en emy stat es are t o
p r-ocur-e d , Fo r e very ferry i nfii.") :)i nt it wi l l p rovide the ne e sary naval s taff f er ad v i ce en. mett .er- s of s e ama n ship wi th 8 S - ,
..qrt v essels and se c ur i t y ·f or c e s . I t wi l l p ro te c t ', alo ne:; with th e
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i>-r f orc es', emp loyed t o Gua rd t he•.mov emen t , th e e rrt i.r e c r o s s i.n g
t the ch annel on bot h r l ank s , An order wi 11 ta l low on the r egulation of the c ommand r ol ~ti 6n ship dur i ng ,t h e crossi~g. It i s
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further th e t ask of the nayy ,: t o r e ~Ul ate in a 'u n i f o r m menn e r th e
bU~lding up of the coastal art,i ililery, bh a t is a l l ba t t .er-Les which
can/be us e d f or firinG a~ai n s t se a t arc et s of the ll.rmy as well as 1, :t:"' ~'~he Navy, and t o organ i z e the fir E; control of the who le •
•S\ ·8reat ,an a mou rrt .iof v ery,h eavy a r t i l l er y a s po s ai bLe is t o, be
employe d as' Quickly a s poss i bbe t o s ecure th e cross Ln.; and t o pr c - '
tec.t t.ne ri.anks from e nemy op era t io ns fr om th e s e a , ' Fo r t hi s
pu.rp,o'se, r ailwayart .illery{ SUl?pl eo., e.n te6. by a l l : evadLabl.e . cap t u r-ed
p'~ l1ce's) with out .t .he ba t .t e r ~e s ( Ks and K12) p r ovLd ed f ur f1ririg ,on
areets on t~ eEngli~l1' h1p.~qland. l ,s t o b e b rOUGh t up and emp l a c e d
, y use , ~f' ra~iway ttrrntables. "
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Indep enc1 ent of thd:s t tti~ He av ie s t avai labl ~ p La tform ba t t.er i e s
a;re. t c be oppo s i t e t he Straits c f Dcve.r J s o empLac ed und er c oncrete that they can withstand even the h e aviest a erial a t ta ck s und theredom.inat e t he Strai t s 01' Dover unde r any c i r c ums tan ces in th e ,
long run, wi thin their ::"effec ~i ve r'ange ,
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: . The t echnic al work is th e r esp on~i bility of th e Todt Organizati c
,c . Mi'ssi on of the Ai r Fo r ce is:
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, - ', .To' hind er ;int erf eranc e f'r om the e nemy a i r f orc e. To ove r ccu e
coastal de fe n se s whi ch c oul d do clamo(?e t o th e L and i.ng po sl t i ons t o
bre~kth e ,f i r s t r es i s t anc e c,f en emy tr oops a nd t o smash r eserves
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which may be o omi ng up'. F,::r t nis .mds s i. on cl ose st c ooper ati on of indi .r .
v~dual unt t s . ot' the a i r fo r ce with t he cr- o a ai ng unit s, is ne c e ss ar-y , , i'
]'urtherm6r~ t o (le s tl' oy imp ortant t r- ansp or-t a t Lon r ou t.e a f or the
b~inging up ' of enemy r es e rv es, and t o a t ta~k enemy nuval f orces,
which are c OI!lin~ up wh i le th ey [ore still f a r ITWay fr om. th e or-o as i.ng ; (
P9ints. I re~uest p~opo sa l s o n the u~ e of ?ar a c hu te and d l id er
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t'ro op s. In this r e:;arcl . it is t o t-Ie de ter mi ned if it is worth-while
her~ t o hold para chu te a nd g l ide r tr o o ~s ~n r e a diness as a r eserve
to b e quickly committ ed in c a s e of ener j e nc y ,
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4;~ The arme d f orc es chi ef of signals wi l l c arry ou t th e nec ews ary
prep arati ons f or si Gnal connecti ons fr om France t o th e EPGlish
:n:e.inl an d. The in stallati on o,f t h e r-ema l ni ng BOkIJ Eas t ?russi an
cab Le s is t o be p ro"ffi ded f or · in c onjunct i on wi th th e Navy .
5 '" I r equest the s up r eme' ocmmand e r-s t o su1:'~.i t t ~) me as s J on a s
'lJossib])e:
"" . ,~- , a . The i nt enti on s of the Navy an d a i r f'or-c e f or ach LevI ng
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th e nec e s s ary condition s f o r th e crossing of t h e channel
. ' (se e f L.::ur e 2)
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. b , ... The c onst ructi on of the c oa st al ba t te r ie s in de tai l (Navy )
c~ :'1I. ,s urv ey 0 f th e t onnqge t o t,a empLoye d a nd t he met hods
J
~ :c·f . Gett ing it r e a dy a nd fit tin£,: i t out.
?ar t i cipa ti on
dt civili an ns en c ie s ? ( ~avy )
G. . The 'o r 3 a n i z a t i on of ae r ia. l p ro te c t i on in th e assembl y ar e a s
f or t r oop s ab ou t t :-; cr os s and th e mean s of cr os'sin ~( Air
F orc e)
e . Tl.le c r-os s Lng . and ppe r a t i o n s p Lan of t he army , c omp osi ti on
an d equi.pmen t of the first crps ai n.; wave.
f. ortianizati on a nd mea s ure s o f ' t h e Navy a nd t h e a i r - f or ce f or
the c arryi nG out of the cros sing i t s elf, s ecurity of the
cro qsinL).. and supp or-t : of the Lan di.n j ,
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g . Prop os als f or t he c oinmi ttlJISnt of par a chu te and Gl i der tr oops, . \_
a s well a s f or th e ' $..ttac hn ent and oommcn d of e.n t i - a i r c r a f t ,
ar t e r :an e x ~ en s i ve ,:¢ain of t erritory' on El~{;; l i sh s o il h a s
been made (A~r F orc e) "
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,h . ?ropos al f or th e l oc ati on of the c ommand s t a f f s of the
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, s up r eme c o~~and ers of the Army an d of t h e N~vy .
i : ':rhE:: po s i t ion of army , navy ,and a i r - f or ce on the que s t io n
whether and what subsi di ary a c t ion s bef ore t he Gener a l
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a nd na vy ,:. . n til
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v o rc l L. c cmr.a nd (:u r i ng
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Initialled~
JU cU
K;eitel
Distri1:, u t io n :
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Supr- eme Cmd r L"'\ f the Army 1st c OP~?
Su; ,rene Cn d r c 1' t h e Navy 2nd c opy
Supr- eme Cmd r of the Ai r ? ·.::rc e
31'< c :::)y
Lrr::6d Fo r ce s C oar~::'E.:.n d. Secti .:;n ('?)
( WFL)
S ~cti cnL
5th an1 7th c cpy
4th c c py
10
I , WI LL:.rm EYLIJS Si~I D!:i() ?.E Lt (j~) USlfl1 J 391590 , ne.r eby c0;:3rtt
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4 4 2-PS .
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-,;ILLl2D EVANS
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