Rare top-secret D-Day blueprint to go under hammer

5 days ago

News image — Matt Crowson, military expert at Hansons Auctioneers, said the D-Day documents were "exceptionally rare"

Jacob King/PA Wire Matt Crowson holds a rare top-secret blueprint of the D-Day landings. He is wearing a brown jacket and has a grey beard. He is holding a dated looking bundle of papers with "Operation Overlord" visibile on the front. — Matt Crowson, military expert at Hansons Auctioneers, said the D-Day documents were "exceptionally rare"

A rare top-secret blueprint for the D-Day landings could make £100,000 when it goes under the hammer, an auction house has said.

The documents, including a series of maps, dated 30 July 1943, almost a year before the actual invasion, were intended for use by the most senior members of the British and Allied command.

Created by Lt Gen Frederick Morgan, known as "the forgotten architect of D-Day", the blueprint includes preparatory measures prior to the invasion, codenamed Operation Overlord.

The documents will be sold on 25 February at Hansons Auctioneers' militaria sale at its saleroom in Etwall, Derbyshire.

Jacob King/PA Wire A map showing the coast of Normandy being held up. It has colour codes and black dots to show areas of sites for rapid airfield construction — Included in the documents are maps marked "most secret"

The blueprint proposed landing points at three beaches along a 25-mile stretch of coast with three Allied divisions.

This plan was later expanded into a five-division invasion landing on beaches now known as Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.

Ten loose maps within the bundle are marked "US Secret" and "British Most Secret".

The documents had been in the possession of their current owner, a relative of a senior military officer, since 1960.

Jacob King/PA Wire A white page of paper which has a legend denoting strongly-defended areas and defended areas, to a scale of 1:1,000,000. — Within the documents are maps of the French coast, used to plan the invasion

Matt Rowson, military expert at Hansons, said Gen Morgan's initial ideas in the document were "fundamental" to the success of D-Day.

He said: "It's probably the most important thing that I've ever handled while I've been here.

"The rarity value is immense. These were simply never meant to survive.

"Standard protocol at the time would have dictated that once it had served its useful purpose it would be destroyed, but somehow it's been retained and we have it here.

"This is top-level - government minister-level - paperwork, so therefore it would not have been handled a great deal."

Jacob King/PA Wire A map of the French coast, which is split into sections with details for each included. At the top of the page, it reads: "U.S. Most Secret" and "British Most Secret" — D-Day saw a five-division invasion land on beaches now known as Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword

The 1944 invasion of Nazi-occupied France used the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Adolf Hitler's defences in western Europe.

Rowson described the original Operation Overlord planning documents as "exceptionally rare".

"This complete archive is one of the most important museum-grade finds to appear on the open market in recent years," he added.

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