3. Organization of the leadership and of the preparations;
Under my command and according to my general directions the supreme commanders will lead the forces to be used from their branches of service. The command-staffs of the supreme commander of the army, the supreme commander of the Navy, and the supreme commander of the air-force must from 1 August on be located within a radius of at least 50 km. from my headquarters (Ziegenberg). Lodging the command staffs of the supreme commanders of the army and navy together at Giessen appears practical to me.
Hence for the leadership of the landing armies the supreme commander of the army will have to employ an army group hq.
The project bears the code-name "Seeloewe" [Sea-lion].
In the preparation and carrying out of the undertaking the following tasks fall to the various branches:
a. Army: will draw up the operational plan and the transport plan for all units of the 1st wave to embark. The AA artillery to be transported with the 1st wave will at the same time be attached to the army (to the individual crossing groups) until such a time as a division of tasks in support and protection of ground troops protection of the ports of debarkation and protection of the aerial strong points to be occupied can be carried out. The Army furthermore distributes the means of transport to the individual crossing groups and establishes the embarkation and landing points in agreement with the Navy.
b. Navy: will secure the means of transport and will bring them corresponding to the desires of the Army and according to the requirements of seamanship into the individual embarkation areas. Insofar as possible ships of the defeated enemy states are to be procured. For every ferrying point it will provide the necessary naval staff for advice on matters of seamanship with escort vessels and security forces. It will protect, along with the air forces employed to guard the movement, the entire crossing of the channel on both flanks. An order will follow on the regulation of the command relationship during the crossing. It is further the task of the navy to regulate, in a uniform manner, the building up of the coastal artillery, that is, all batteries which can be used for firing against sea targets of the Army as well as of the Navy, and to organize the fire control of the whole. As great an amount of very heavy artillery as possible is to be employed as quickly as possible to secure the crossing and to protect the flanks from enemy operations from the sea. For this purpose, railway artillery (supplemented by all available captured pieces) without the batteries (Ks and K12) provided for firing on targets on the English mainland, is to be brought up and emplaced by use of railway turntables.
Independent of this, the heaviest available platform batteries are to be opposite the Straits of Dover, so emplaced under concrete that they can withstand even the heaviest aerial attacks and thereby dominate the Straits of Dover under any circumstances in the long run, within their effective range.
The technical work is the responsibility of the Todt Organization.
c. Mission of the Air Force is: To hinder interference from the enemy air force. To overcome coastal defenses which could do damage to the landing positions, to break the first resistance of enemy troops and to smash reserves which may be coming up. For this mission closest cooperation of individual units of the air force with the crossing units is necessary. Furthermore, to destroy important transportation routes for the bringing up of enemy reserves, and to attack enemy naval forces, which are coming up, while they are still far away from the crossing points. I request proposals on the use of parachute and glider troops. In this regard it is to be determined if it is worth-while here to hold parachute and glider troops in readiness as a reserve to be quickly committed in case of emergency.