24 January 1942 Part 3

24 January 1942 Contingency plans and command responsibility for the islands

Fifteenth Army Headquarters. Operations Section Ia No. 015/42, Secret Command Matter / Chiefs Only. Army headquarters, 24 January 1942.
Restricted. Secret Command Matter. Chiefs only; to be conveyed only by an officer. Twenty copies; copy number [handwritten, unclear].
Reference: Fifteenth Army Headquarters, Ia No. 0155/41, Secret Command Matter / Chiefs Only, dated 20 October 1941.
Subject: Contingency “J”, contingency “A”, contingency “Brittany”, contingency “Channel Coast”, etc.
1. a) Following the departure of the army reserves previously present in the Fifteenth Army area, the transfer of formations by Fifteenth Army Headquarters to First or Seventh Army Headquarters, as envisaged in the above reference, no longer applies: aa) for contingency “Attila”; bb) for contingency “Isabella”.
b) The following remains planned: aa) for contingency “Brittany”, the transfer of Higher Command LX, with available corps troops, as previously, by road march to Seventh Army Headquarters; bb) for contingency “Channel Coast”, the transfer of major formations to the disposal of Fifteenth Army Headquarters, according to the army and army group reserves still available in the areas of First and Seventh Army Headquarters.
2. The above-referenced order is thereby superseded. It is replaced by the following wording.
I. On the instructions of Commander-in-Chief West, preparations have been made to employ the operational reserves available in the West (army and army group reserves) in several directions. Deployment can be initiated partly by a code word and partly after a period of advance warning.
The following contingencies are to be distinguished: 1. “Isabella”; 2. “Attila”; 3. “Gironde Estuary”; 4. “Brittany”; 5. “Channel Coast”.
II. For these five contingencies, and at the same time for the information of the higher commands only, the following is ordered, consolidating the individual orders previously issued only to the offices concerned.
[Original page 2. Position as at 20 January 1942.]
A. 1. Contingency “Isabella”; 2. contingency “Attila”; 3. contingency “Gironde Estuary”: no formations are to be supplied by Fifteenth Army Headquarters.
For contingency “Isabella”, the transfer of the following railway batteries by Artillery Commander 141 to Seventh Army Headquarters is envisaged: Railway Battery 655; Railway Battery 717 or 718.
B. Contingency “Brittany”.
1. Higher Command LX with corps troops will be transferred without advance warning, by road march, and placed under Seventh Army Headquarters, leaving behind:
a) A mixed signals company from Signals Battalion 460, comprising one company headquarters detachment; one mixed operating platoon with one motorised operating section c, one motorised operating section b, two fault-finding sections and one motorised amplifier section a; two field long-distance cable platoons, each with one field long-distance cable section provisionally equipped for single-wire construction; and one radio platoon with one platoon headquarters detachment and one motorised medium radio section b from Signals Battalion 460, reinforced by one motorised medium radio section b from Signals Battalion 509.
b) A map store, etc., from Corps Mapping Section 460. See Fifteenth Army Headquarters, Ia No. 3890/41, Secret Command Matter, dated 2 October 1941, paragraphs a–c.
Seventh Army Headquarters will brief Higher Command LX on the duties it will assume under contingency “Brittany”. See Fifteenth Army Headquarters, Ia No. 0155/41, Secret Command Matter / Chiefs Only, dated 20 October 1941, paragraph II c.
[Original page 3.]
On the departure of Higher Command LX, Higher Command XXXII will also assume command in its area. The transfer of a portion of the staff to Saint-Lô must be ensured. Completion of the briefing of Higher Command XXXII on the sector of Higher Command LX, particularly including the Channel Islands, is to be reported to the Army as soon as possible.
2. The transfer of the following railway batteries from the area of Artillery Commander 141 to Seventh Army Headquarters is envisaged: a) Artillery Staff 725; b) Railway Batteries 655 and 696; c) Railway Battery 717 or 718.
C. Contingency “Channel Coast”.
1. In the event of major British operations against the Channel coast in the area of Fifteenth Army Headquarters, the following will be brought into the Army area:
a) From First Army Headquarters: Headquarters VIII Army Corps with corps troops, 71st Infantry Division, 337th Infantry Division, 8th Light Division, 28th Light Division, and the tracked elements of 23rd Panzer Division, all by rail. The remaining elements of 23rd Panzer Division will move by road march.
b) From Seventh Army Headquarters: 332nd Infantry Division by road march or rail, depending on the transport situation; 22nd Panzer Division by road march.
2. Depending on the situation, three assembly areas are envisaged, contingencies A, B and C; see map overlay, Annex 1.
Under contingency A, 716th Infantry Division will concentrate in the area shown in Annex 1. Under contingencies B and C, 716th Infantry Division will remain in its billeting area.
The higher commands will have the existing reconnaissance information for the areas envisaged for all divisions in Annex 1 checked again in the light of the changes in the allocation of reserves. They will report on this to the Army by 5 February 1942, attaching any proposed alterations on a 1:1,000,000 map overlay, showing the new divisional staff headquarters to be provided.
For corps headquarters and divisional staff headquarters already reported, see the map overlay, Annex 1.
[Original page 4.]
The billeting areas, corps headquarters and divisional staff headquarters must be secured.
3. For the proposed unloading areas, see map overlay, Annex 2. The divisions will be transported in one after another.
The arrival times shown on the map overlays, Annexes 1 and 2, serve as a guide. Changes are possible at any time, since the arrival of the formations depends on the empty railway rolling stock available and on the number of reserves actually available for contingency “Channel Coast”.
III. It is expressly emphasised that all five contingencies concern planned measures which may, in some circumstances, have to be initiated very rapidly. Preparations on a mobilisation basis are required for this.
The command staffs and divisions earmarked for employment elsewhere will ensure the appropriate readiness to march. Where applicable, they will keep their “Auferstehung” [“Resurrection”, mobilisation code name] and transport documents constantly up to date, taking account even of temporary relocations.
Separate orders for execution will be issued by the Army in every case.
IV. Guarding the N.O. line is no longer contemplated. [Abbreviation retained as printed.]
V. This order is to be passed on only in extracts, only to the relevant office in each case, and without naming the various contingencies. It is to contain only what the troops need to know at present.
Additional instruction for Army Group Headquarters D and First and Seventh Army Headquarters: details of transport preparations will be arranged directly by the authorised transport officer of Fifteenth Army Headquarters with the corresponding transport officers of First or Seventh Army Headquarters.
For Army Headquarters: the Chief of the General Staff. [Signature not securely legible.]
Two annexes: map overlays.
Distribution: Higher Command XXXVII, copy 1; Higher Command XXXII, copy 2; Higher Command LX, copy 3. For information: Army Group D, copy 4; First Army Headquarters, copy 5; Seventh Army Headquarters, copy 6; Artillery Commander 141, copy 7. After dispatch: Ia, copy 8; Senior Quartermaster, copy 9; senior medical officer, copy 10; authorised transport officer, copy 11; Ic, copy 12; Army Pioneer Commander, copy 13; Army Signals Commander, copy 14; war diary, copy 15; reserve copies 16–20.

Editorial note: Complete four-page order. Higher Command LX is the Roman numeral 60; the faint type can resemble IX. The direct island reference is on original page 3. The two original map annexes are reproduced at the end.

Map context: the annexes show mainland concentration and unloading areas accompanying the order, not maps of the islands. Original scale 1:1,000,000. Small and faint timings remain uncertain; consult the original images.

German Fifteenth Army Headquarters (AOK 15), NARA T-312 Roll 504. Supplied translation: Roll 504 Jersey and Channel Islands English translations.docx. Source microfilm strip references: 069.jpg, horizontal pixels 6962–8173 and 8173–9200; 070.jpg, horizontal pixels 0–996 and 996–1980; original pages 1–4. Original strip pixel ranges retained because individual frame digits are uncertain.
External original map annexes: New embedded diary images named by date/24 January 1942 Part 3 - Image 1.jpg; New embedded diary images named by date/24 January 1942 Part 3 - Image 2.jpg. Annex 1: proposed assembly areas, 070.jpg horizontal pixels 3173–5231. Annex 2: proposed unloading areas, 070.jpg horizontal pixels 5231–7291.