Sealion successfull

At the risk of being dumped on, Kenneth Macksey's book on this subject always struck me as very plausible, and I don't recall it ever being effectively refuted.
 

maverick

Banned
Well, probably Hitler using the Spear of Longinus to part the North sea and lead the Wehrmacht from his white horse...
 
Under what conditions would Sealion have succeeded, according to Kenneth Macksey?


Imaginary ones ;)

Macksey's scenario is very unrealistic. His problem is he keeps far too close to the OTL scenario, but holds it in July whilst the Battle for France is still being conducted! Goodness sakes. There's zero chance of the Germans being able to do both campaigns at the same time considering both the manpower & resources needed for both.

What the Germans have to do is wait until France is completely defeated before any thoughts about launching Sealion can begin, which they knew anyway in the OTL. And then secondly, they have to throw out all their OTL plans & start again...
 
In his book, "Invasion, the Alternate History of the German Invasion of England July 1940", Macksey has the Germans deviate from our TL by setting aside five divisions in early June immediately after the BEF is evacuated but whilst the French are still in the game South of the Somme.

The Germans manage to control Dover straits for a critical period, and manage to pull it off before the Brits really get their act together after Dunkirk.

I actually found a review by our well-respected member Amerigo Vespucci on the Amazon site and hope he doesn't mind me quoting it in full:

"This was the first Alternate History book that I read, and to me, it has always been the best. The story details a successful invasion of Great Britain in 1940, from the planning stages through the air battles, the glider landings, the beach crossings, and the eventual surrender of London.

The text is helped enormously by several detailed maps that enable the reader to completely understand the author's view of what he believes would happen. I found the story completely plausible, well-written, and I agree with the conclusions reached by the author. A previous reviewer wrote that it seemed to him as if the author portrayed the British Army in England as not being able to defend against a single German soldier with a rusty spear. The fact of the matter is that that isn't far from the truth.
The Royal Navy in the book comes through as rather shallow, but I would not disagree much with the author's conclusions. The Royal Navy could not stop an Operation Sealion with the entire force of Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe facing it. It could only hope to slow it enough to help the British Army destroy the landings, a possibility slim at best. I agree that a German invasion would succeed, albeit at slightly higher casualties in both men and naval forces than the author has portrayed, but I cannot disagree with his conclusion. I had no problems with the book, excepting one. I wanted more! "
 
Just the mere mention of that certain Sea Mammal is enough to destroy a galaxy! So don't do it!
*looks through telescope*
Yep, there goes Andromeda...
 
Amerigo Vespucci maybe well respected, but there's a couple of things I completely disagree with in regards to Macksey's book:


A previous reviewer wrote that it seemed to him as if the author portrayed the British Army in England as not being able to defend against a single German soldier with a rusty spear. The fact of the matter is that that isn't far from the truth.


This is wrong for starters. If we're only talking 5 divisions of German troops, there's more than enough Allied units in the UK to stop them on the beaches - that's if they get that far, of course, as we all know the Rhine barges aren't seaworthy, & a few squadrons of Wellington bombers could easily send half of the German invasion force to the bottom of the Channel long before they got to the beaches around Dover.


The Royal Navy in the book comes through as rather shallow, but I would not disagree much with the author's conclusions. The Royal Navy could not stop an Operation Sealion with the entire force of Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe facing it.


Codswollop. The RN would have fought tooth & nail to stop the invasion. As we have gamed many times here at AH.Com, even with various positive changes to the Kriegsmarine OOB, it'll be far from the walkover Macksey suggests.

Plus the Luftwaffe will have its hands full with the RAF, which again Macksey seems to ignore the presence thereof.


It could only hope to slow it enough to help the British Army destroy the landings, a possibility slim at best. I agree that a German invasion would succeed, albeit at slightly higher casualties in both men and naval forces than the author has portrayed...


The whole problem with this is the fact that the Germans are landing in the wrong location. Considering the troops on the beaches would be facing either a 100 foot cliff &/or the Martello Towers defence line, the defending units would slaughter the Germans on the beaches long before Dover & elsewhere could be taken & a secure beachhead established.

As I keep saying, the German plans for Sealion have to be completely rewritten if they want to have a chance in achieving victory.
 
Top