A top-secret Nazi war dossier has been uncovered revealing how German troops were planning to invade Ireland by using tourist post cards to plot their attack if Adolf Hitler had successfully taken over Britain.
The chilling booklet identifies the Irish – who were neutral during World War II and even allowed German U-boats and submarines into their waters – as the next target for Hitler.
Featuring tourist postcards from across the country, the invaders guide book pinpoints cities such as Dublin and Belfast earmarked for destruction in the path of a Nazi assault.
The document – handed to high ranking Nazi officers – also included pictures of key locations such as dams, ports, cities, high ground and beaches which the German High Command believed would be of importance when they invaded.
These were collected and numbered by military officials before they were plotted on a series of eight fold-out maps, which would have been used during “Operation Sealion.”
On September 17, 1940 Hitler was forced to scrap Operation Sealion because of the Luftwaffe’s failure to gain air supremacy over England during the Battle of Britain.
The Nazi offensive never took place after the German defeat in the skies, but experts believe the book reveals what could have happened if the Nazi’s had conquered Britain.
The scarce copy of “Militargeographische Angaben uber Irland” published in 1940 has been uncovered for the first time after it was kept in the same family after the end of the war.
It is expecting to fetch up to £600 when it goes under the hammer at Ludlow Race Course today.
Historical Documents Expert Richard Westwood Brookes, of Mullocks Auctioneers, said the document shows how the Irish were wrong to believe they were safe from invasion after accommodating the Nazis during the war.
He said: “This will come as quite a surprise as the Irish believed that the country’s neutrality protected them from the Nazis.
“They were clearly wrong and it is a very sobering reminder that no one in the world was safe from the evil of Hitler.
“Despite the fact that many Irish were sympathetic to Germany throughout the war, they were clearly earmarked by Hitler for invasion and for the same fate as all the other countries in Europe.
“It is also very possible that Hitler might have considered invading Ireland first and establishing an invasion force there for a later attack on the UK mainland.
“This is something that will be completely unknown to many Irish people and will come as a shock.
“We have naturally come across invasion plans for Britain before but I have never seen one for Ireland.
“We are really expecting interest from Irish collectors – it is, after all, part of their history that more than likely they were completely unaware of.
“However, it would have made complete military sense for the Germans to invade Ireland as it was a perfect location to set up to reinvade England in a bid to take Britain back from the Germans.
“Ireland had strategic links to America as well so it would have made tactical sense for them to occupy the country swiftly.
“It just proves that Hitler was not going to stop at Britain.”
