TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENT 442-PS

The Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. OKW/WFA/L No. 33 160/40 Top Secret
The Fuehrer's hq. 16 July 1940 7 copies, 4th copy
TOP SECRET
Transmit by officer courier only
General Order No. 16 on the preparation of a landing operation
against England.
Since England, despite her militarily hopeless situation still shows no sign of willingness to come to terms, I have decided to
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prepare a landing operation against England, and if necessary to carry it out.
The aim of this operation is to eliminate the English homeland as a basis for the carrying on of the war against Germany, and if it should become necessary to occupy it completely;
To this end I order the following:
1. The Landing must be carried out in the form of a surprise crossing on a broad front approximately from Ramsgate to the area west of the Isle of Wight, in which air force units will take the roll of artillery, and units of the navy the roll of the engineers. Whether it is practical to undertake subordinate actions, such as the occupation of the Isle of Wight or of County Cornwall, before the general landing is to be determined from the standpoint of every branch of the armed forces and the result is to be reported to me. I reserve the decision for myself. The preparations for the entire operation must be completed by mid-August.
2. To these preparations also belong the creation of those conditions which make a landing in England possible.
a. The English air-force must morally and actually be so far overcome, that it does not any longer show any considerable aggressive force against the German attack.
b. Mine-free channels must be created.
c. By means of a closely concentrated mine-barrier the straight of Dover on both Flanks as well as the western entrance to the channel in the approximate line Aldemey-Portland must be sealed off.
d. The area in front of the coast must be dominated and given artillery protection by strong coastal artillery.
e. Tying down of the English naval forces in the North Sea as well as in the Mediterranean (by the Italians) is desired, whereby it must now be attempted that the English naval forces which are in the homeland be damaged by air and torpedo attack in strength.
3. Organization of the leadership and of the preparations;
Under my command and according to my general directions the
supreme commanders will lead the forces to be used from their branches of service. The command-staffs of the supreme commander of the army, the supreme commander of the Navy, and the supreme commander of the air-force must from 1 August on be located within a radius of at least 50 km. from my headquarters (Ziegenberg). Lodging the command staffs of the supreme commanders of the army and navy together at Giessen appears practical to me.
Hence for the leadership of the landing armies the supreme commander of the army will have to employ an army group hq.
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The project bears the code-name "Seeloewe" [Sea-lion].
In the preparation and carrying out of the undertaking the following tasks fall to the various branches:
a. Army: will draw up the operational plan and the transport plan for all units of the 1st wave to embark. The AA artillery to be transported with the 1st wave will at the same time be attached to the army (to the individual crossing groups) until such a time as a division of tasks in support and protection of ground troops protection of the ports of debarkation and protection of the aerial strong points to be occupied can be carried out. The Army furthermore distributes the means of transport to the individual crossing groups and establishes the embarkation and landing points in agreement with the Navy.
b. Navy: will secure the means of transport and will bring them corresponding to the desires of the Army and according to the requirements of seamanship into the individual embarkation areas. Insofar as possible ships of the defeated enemy states are to be procured. For every ferrying point it will provide the necessary naval staff for advice on matters of seamanship with escort vessels and security forces. It will protect, along with the air forces employed to guard the movement, the entire crossing of the channel on both flanks. An order will follow on the regulation of the command relationship during the crossing. It is further the task of the navy to regulate, in a uniform manner, the building up of the coastal artillery, that is, all batteries which can be used for firing against sea targets of the Army as well as of the Navy, and to organize the fire control of the whole. As great an amount of very heavy artillery as possible is to be employed as quickly as possible to secure the crossing and to protect the flanks from enemy operations from the sea. For this purpose, railway artillery (supplemented by all available captured pieces) without the batteries (Ks and K12) provided for firing on targets on the English mainland, is to be brought up and emplaced by use of railway turntables.
Independent of this, the heaviest available platform batteries are to be opposite the Straits of Dover, so emplaced under concrete that they can withstand even the heaviest aerial attacks and thereby dominate the Straits of Dover under any circumstances in the long run, within their effective range.
The technical work is the responsibility of the Todt Organization.
c. Mission of the Air Force is: To hinder interference from the enemy air force. To overcome coastal defenses which could do
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damage to the landing positions, to break the first resistance of enemy troops and to smash reserves which may be coming up. For this mission closest cooperation of individual units of the air force with the crossing units is necessary. Furthermore, to destroy important transportation routes for the bringing up of enemy reserves, and to attack enemy naval forces, which are coming up, while they are still far away from the crossing points. I request proposals on the use of parachute and glider troops. In this regard it is to be determined if it is worth-while here to hold parachute and glider troops in readiness as a reserve to be quickly committed in case of emergency.
4. The armed forces chief of signals will carry out the necessary preparations for signal connections from France to the English mainland. The installation of the remaining 80km East Prussian cables is to be provided for in conjunction with the Navy.
5. I request the supreme commanders to submit to me as soon as possible:
a. The intentions of the Navy and Air Force for achieving the necessary conditions for the crossing of the channel (see figure 2).
b. The construction of the coastal batteries in detail (Navy).
c. A survey of the tonnage to be employed and the methods of getting it ready and fitting it out. Participation of civilian agencies? (Navy).
d. The organization of aerial protection in the assembly areas for troops about to cross and the means of crossing (Air Force).
e. The crossing and operations plan of the army, composition and equipment of the first crossing wave.
/. Organization and measures of the Navy and the Air Force for carrying out of the crossing itself, security of the crossing, and support of the landing.
g. Proposals for the committment of parachute and glider troops, as well as for the attachment and command of anti-aircraft, after an extensive gain of territory on English soil has been made (Air Force).
h. Proposal for the location of the command staffs of the supreme commanders of the Army and of the Navy.
i. The position of army, navy, and air force on the question whether and what subsidiary actions before the general landing are considered practical.
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^ k. Proposal of army and navy on the overall command during the crossing.
A. Hitler [Initialled]
J [Jodi]
K [Keitel]
Distribution:
Supreme Cmdr of the Army—1st copy.
Supreme Cmdr of the Navy—2nd copy.
Supreme Cmdr of the Air Force—3rd copy.
Armed Forces Command Section [?]—4th copy.
(WFA)
Section L—5th and 7th copy.