Pt1
Between the end of Operation Dynamo and the beginning of the Battle of Britain, a minor raid by the 11th Independent company on a small village in Northern France took place. A pre cursor to later raids, Operation Collar was a limited success. Two German soldiers were captured, (No officers), 2 Germans were killed and one British Officer injured.
The raid itself disappeared into obscurity in Britain, overshadowed by the Battle of Britain. In Germany however, the details of the raid percolated through the ranks of the Abwehr. Alongside the operational planning for Fall Seelowe, Admiral Canaris looked to his Brandenburger Kommando to fulfil a similar role to that carried out during the invasions of Poland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands - advance troops, leading the way at strategic points.
The idea initially, was that while the seaborne invasion would be the main thrust, the Brandenburgers would have two main tasks: Secure a landing field for the planned air bridge on the south coast, and to hamper the efforts of the English to be able to respond to the invasion by sabotage and misdirection as they had done in Poland and the low countries.
The plan, as with many other things associated with Operation Sea lion, was shelved in the autumn of 1940, but unlike Sea lion, this plan did not disappear into the depths of misfortune and circumstance.
- From "The Invasion that wasn't" Max Hastings, London, 1999
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To: GrossAdmiral Canaris
From: Kapitan Schrader
01.13.41
Subject: Fall Mercury
Herr GrossAdmiral,
Regarding Fall Mercury, As much as our own service should be the branch to land the special troops, I have found another possibility. The Luftwaffe unit JG 200 currently flies and evaluates captured enemy aircraft. Following our victory in France they have a number of machines to evaluate, including shot down and recovered bombers such as their "Wellington" bomber. Informally I have spoken to their commander and he has advised that they have three Wellington Bombers that are flight capable. It does restrict the number of troops we could send; however the surprise effect would make it worthwhile.
I have included the draft plan for your attention.
In Annex 2 I have amended the list of suitable target airfields on the basis that Fall Seelowe has been postponed. This does limit the options as the Kommandos in question would have to be able to make their way to the coast where by they could be collected by S Boat or U boat dependant on the location chosen.
The three most probable are:
Manston
Hawkinge
Lympne
Of the three, Manston would be both the hardest to achieve but the highest return. I would rate this as a suicide mission. (Would the SS be better suited for this?)*
Hawkinge, again would be near suicidal however, the return would not be as great.
Lympne would be my second choice. This has, (according to the Luftwaffe aerial photographs), very limited use by the RAF, while the route back to the coast takes the kommandoes past a radar station. I suggest that this could be made a secondary target of the mission. I believe that carrying out this mission will greatly benefit the war effort against the English, not to mention being one in the eye for the Army, and to a lesser extent, the Luftwaffe.
Yours,
Werner Schrader
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*Handwritten note written over the top of the line