Operation Sealion

Tielhard

Banned
You know everyone on this board thinks it was impossible but the British at that time thought it was almost inevitable. Why is there such a distance between these views?
 
Tielhard said:
You know everyone on this board thinks it was impossible but the British at that time thought it was almost inevitable. Why is there such a distance between these views?

Actually, back in the 1980s, Kenneth Macsey (sp?), noted British military historian, wrote a rather interesting and convincing account of a successful Operation Sealion. The book was called INVASION. He argued that if the cross-channel invasion had been carried out in July 1940...at the moment when the British leadership felt Britain was most vulnerable...it might have succeeded. It is an interesting read, if you can find a copy.
 
Tielhard said:
You know everyone on this board thinks it was impossible but the British at that time thought it was almost inevitable. Why is there such a distance between these views?

I'd say the fog of war. The British had just suffered a huge series of defeats in France, and France had gone belly up. Hitler was now poised to invade Britain, and Britain seemed to be able to do nothing to stop him.

But given what we know now, Hitler was not prepared in any serious fashion for an invasion, that the Royal Navy would be able to effectively control the channel and prevent any seaborne invasion due to this unpreparedness, and that the percieved danger at the time was more or less simply a result of British weakness in the face of a seemingly unstoppable German juggernaught.
 

Tielhard

Banned
Well maybe, but I am not convinced Bulgaroktonos, not only did the British think it a credible threat but the Germans went through with the preparations and appear to have taken them seriously however inadiquate they may have been. The period British and Germans both regarded Sealion as viable and I don't think the 'fog of war' would cover both groups so comprehensively. I still have trouble with reconciling the period views with the 2006 Alt hist forum view.
 
Tielhard said:
You know everyone on this board thinks it was impossible but the British at that time thought it was almost inevitable. Why is there such a distance between these views?
the simple answer is 'hindsight'.... we know differently now...
 
Tielhard said:
Well maybe, but I am not convinced Bulgaroktonos, not only did the British think it a credible threat but the Germans went through with the preparations and appear to have taken them seriously however inadiquate they may have been. The period British and Germans both regarded Sealion as viable and I don't think the 'fog of war' would cover both groups so comprehensively. I still have trouble with reconciling the period views with the 2006 Alt hist forum view.

IIRC, much of the German High command didn't think it was viable, hence the reason it was never seriously prepared for.
 
Bulgaroktonos said:
IIRC, much of the German High command didn't think it was viable, hence the reason it was never seriously prepared for.

The German Navy considered it suicidal (rightly so). Goering had some enthusiasm for the idea though some think he really felt Britain would negotiate a treaty if he eliminated Fighter Command. He made some strange statements about an actual invasion. Of the Air Fleet commanders Kesselring was at least initially optimistic but Sperrle was very negative.

The Army also had mixed feelings. Those that had some sympathy for the naval problem were pessimistic. Those that blathered about the Straits of Dover being a big river crossing had a naive optimism.
 
Germans dressed in drag, fooling the Brittish into beliving that they ar women. Technichly not ASB so I win.
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
I don't think anyone has suggested German zombies, have they?

They could just walk right across on the bottom, like in Pirates of the Caribbean.
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
IIRC, at one point during the Battle of Britain, the British forces along the south coast received the code word "Cromwell" which meant that an invasion was likely within 24 hours.
 
NapoleonXIV said:
I don't think anyone has suggested German zombies, have they?

They could just walk right across on the bottom, like in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Ah, but Britain has a secret weapon: Sharks! Zombies may be undead, but even the most persistent zombie can't escape a shark.

Alternatively, the Brits could just stand on the beaches with chainsaws.

Anyway, that's Operation Brainz, not operation Sealion.
 
If we're getting into the supernatural, we're all forgetting Drake's Drum.

Take my drum to England, hang it by the shore,
Strike it when your powder's running low.
If the Don's sight Devon, I'll quit the Port o' Heaven
And drum them up the Channel as I drummed them long ago.


Nazi Zombies may not be Dons but I don't think Drake will mind. :D
 
WI during WW II they claim King Arthur really has returned. They can say he was revived by survivors of the ancient Ice Age civlization (not Atlantis, but everybody calls it that). These survivors had a high civilization in 10,000 BC, are living in an underground base on the Moon, and have been watching us for years. When King Arthur and King Frederick Barbarossa died they were placed in stasis chambers.
So actors are hired to claim to be Arthur and Barbarossa...
 

Straha

Banned
Well if you want to make Sealion suceed first you'd need to *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* cactus *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* then apply the vaseline and *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* dildo *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* after that you insert the vise up your *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong* *censored for reasons of being unbelievably wrong*

see? Not too hard
 
Straha: Wow, you're right... but I mean, do you have to *censored* *censored* *censored* for the Germans to win? It seems to be going overboard since you've already *censored*...
 
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