9 October 1941 Part 4

9 October 1941 Naval War Staff assessment of wartime and postwar uses of the Channel Islands

Editorial note: Other copies or associated sheets are cited together; repeated text is counted once.

[Scan 1124.jpg] Copy. Annex 2 to Army General Staff, Operations Branch IIa, no. 1582/41, top secret, October 1941. Naval War Staff, Berlin, 9 October 1941. Reference 1 Skl I op 1520/41, top secret, commanders only; convey only by officer. To Army High Command, Army General Staff, Operations Branch. Subject: Channel Islands. Reference: Army General Staff, Operations Branch IIa, 1470/41, top secret.

The following opinion is given on the questions raised in the reference. In its overall assessment the Naval War Staff distinguishes between A) measures during the war and B) measures after the war.

A. a) Establishing bases for naval and air forces is unnecessary, since better and more extensive bases already exist or are under construction on and near the French coast. b) Support and assistance for German naval forces in the Channel are better assured by other harbours. c) Blocking enemy sea traffic in the Channel is more difficult from here than from other places. For the time being, the breadth of the sea area at this point cannot be adequately controlled by artillery. d) Some protection of the Gulf of St Malo for German naval forces currently exists in conjunction with artillery protection from the mainland coast.

[Scan 1125.jpg] Complete protection would scarcely be possible even with a large concentration of artillery, and is not essential in view of the possible support afforded by the rest of the coast. e) Not applicable here.

B. Preliminary remark: as far as is known here, the Channel Islands will remain in German possession after the war, whereas the French coast immediately behind them will not. a) The Naval War Staff envisages establishing bases for light naval forces on all or some of the islands. These will be constructed, at least in part, in protected form: shelters or tunnels. b–c) Peacetime construction and the installation of the heaviest calibres are intended both to protect the islands and to provide support for German naval forces. This will also block approximately the southern third of the Channel.

d) Securing the Gulf of St Malo is not applicable in peacetime, since the mainland coast will not remain militarily occupied by Germany. Naval forces can expect still-effective artillery protection to about thirty kilometres to the south and about forty kilometres to the west and northwest. e) Given the distances to the mainland coast, artillery employment against enemy battery targets there would have no, or very little, effective value (barrel wear and ammunition expenditure). At the appropriate time, a corresponding battery-free zone in Normandy would have to be demanded from the conclusion of peace.

By order, signed Wagner. Certified correct: signed von Mellenthin, Corvette Captain. Certified correct copy: [signature unclear], Lieutenant.

German Army High Command records, T-78 Roll 317. Supplied English translation T78_Roll_317_English_Translation.docx. Source images: 1124.jpg, 1125.jpg, 1138.jpg, 1139.jpg, 1140.jpg.