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Mdre detniled directives wi l l follow nt the closo of theso tnlks .

10 copies4th copy55

. -Fuehrer's Hendqunrters12 November- 40

2F ,;':08

TOP ~ ~ C R E r

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WSt/Abt .L(I) No 33 ,356/40 g.K.Chefs

only by officer

Directiyo No. ;1.8

The Fuohrer and Supreme Commnnderof tho Armed Forces

The prepnrntory measures of Supreme Hq for the prosecutionwnr in the near futuro nre to be mnde along the follmving l ines:-

1) Relations w i t h , F r ~ n c e

a) Gibraltnr will be taken and the strnits closod.b) The Brit i sh wHl be prevented from gaining a foothold -at another ',

point of the Therio.n poninsula , or the Atlantic Islnnds . I

Tho nim of my policy townrds Frnnce is to coonerato with this , . 'country in the most effective wny for t.he :f'uture prosecution of the war ngainstEngland. For tho time being Prance will have 'bhe tole 'of a "non-belligerent ' r

pawo rll t- sho will havo to tolernte GQrma.n militnry measut-o s' ,01'\ her terri tory ,espocially in tho A f r i c ~ n colonies , . and to give P O ~ , ns far a.s possible ,even by using her own moans of defenso . Tho most p ~ o s s i n g task of ' theFrench is the dofensive and offensive pro toct ion of 'choir Fronch p o s s c ~ s i d n s(West and E q u ~ t o r i a . l Afri ca ) ngninst Eng1n.nd and -tho dcGa.u1lo movomenb ,From this in i t in l tasic Prance I s pnrl i 'cipntion in .t ho war against }Englnnd can 'develop fully .

For the time boingj the conversations with Frnnde resulting from

my moeting with Md.rshnlP e t C ' . i ~

nr? beitigd a . r d e ~

on .. npC\tt from! tho ourrent 'work of tho n r m i s t i c o . c ~ ~ i s s i - entirely by the fore1gh office ( A u ~ d r t i g e sAmt) in cooperntion With tho S u p t ' o l ' l l ~ Oommnnd of the Armed F o r c ~ s (OIWf) . ' .

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2) Spain n n d , P o r l u ~ ~ lP o l i ~ i c a l steps to 'bring nbout an enrly Spanish entry into the wnr I

hnve been taken . Tho nim of Gernnn intervention in tho ' Iberinn peninsula(codo nnmo F e l i ~ ) will be to arive the English out of the ~ 0 s t e r n Medi t e r rnnoan. For this purposo:

prepnrntion nnd exocution of this operntion is intended as folloWs:

Sediion I .

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n) Reoonnaissance troops (officers i n c iv il ia n clothes) make thenecessury preparations for the action ~ g a . i n s t Gibro.ltnr nnd fo r taking over. ;uor odr-ome a; As regnrds disguise and cooperation with the Spaninrds thoy will . ·oomply vnth the secu ri ty mensures of the Chief of Foreign Intelligence ,

b) Special units of the Forei gn Intolligenco Bureau are to t akoover the pro tect ion of the Gibraltnr area , in secrot cooperation with tho

S p ~ n i a r d s ngainst English nttempts to widen tho terrnin in front and ngainstpremature discovery nno frustrntion of our r r epnr at i ons ,

0) The units intended for this operation will be k o p t rendinessawn.y , from the French Spnni sh border arid Lnf'orrnatri.on wi he withhold from the

: troops , o.t this enrly stngc . In order to s t ~ r t opernt10ns, n vmrning orderwill be ~ i v o n three weeks before th e troops cross the S p n n i s h ~ F r o n c h border ' )(but onl; nfter ~ n c l u s i o n of the preparntions rognrding the Atlnntic Islands): '

...With rognrd to tho law capncity o f the Spnnish railways, the

army will datnil m a . i n ~ y motorizod units fo r this operation , so: thnt ther a i l ~ a y s nro avnilnblo for reinforcements ,\.

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Section IV

Sect ion III

Suffioi ent foroes will be detai led for tho n i r nttnck ,on ~to guar a.nt ee substantial sucoess .

I

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of the Strai ts , pr-epare»for the t rnnsfer of single

I

be in suffic i ent strongth to

,TRANSLAT ION OF DOC. 444-PS(oont_ )

_ .2 i:"w'

!E!Si.

The u n i t ~ i nt ehded for Gibra l ta r mustRock oven without Spanish a s s i ~ a n oeize the

Apart fr om th is , a smniior e; ):'outj ryust be a V ' l l U to ~ i d theSpaniards in the unlikely ' event of t ho i ~ t i ( e m p t i n t o Land n different poi nt on th e coast . Tho units to be kept in r ea d f.no es for a possiblei nvas ion of Portuga l are 't o' be predominantly of a mob i Io nrrbur-e, l:i ':,

Air Force

a) Attack for the seizure of Gibral tar , by Gor rnnn troops .

b) Mob i l i zat i on of t ro ops to maroh into o r t u should the Britishgain a foothold there. The units this will march into Spain

immedia.tely aft er tho urri.b e in tended for

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Section II

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b ) Shortly aft er th is the units in tended f or use in Spai n wi l l crossthe Franco-Spanish fronti er on l nnd or in the ni r .

a) Uni t e of the Air For ce , di re cted by obse rvat ion Algeo1ras,wil l , at a favorablo moment , oarry ~ un ai r f rom French soil , on theunits of tho Br i t i sh f leet y i n t he port 0. f wi l l ferc e

landing on~ n i s h

ae rodromes t he a t tack.

For the subsequent opera ti ons ngainst v ob j e ct i v.e s nnd for theBupport of the ~ t t a o k on th e Rock mnin l y dive - bomb er un its a rc to be trans

ferred to Spa.in.

Suffioien t n n ~ i " n i r c r n f t nrt i l lo ry is to bo to tho armyunits , and is a lso t o be usod to onr;a.r.;o gr u'lild tn.rgets . '

Support by t ho Spanish in c l o s i n ~ h s trai ts after the seizure 'o f' 1?he Rook from the Spanish-Morocoan sido as wol l., i f r equired .

, As t ot the htrongbh of the uni ts t o be used for operat i on "Fol ix"the f oll owing wi l l 'appl y .

II

NnvY

Provision is , t o be ma.de for U-bonts to nttack B r i t i s h - G i b r n l t n: Squo.dron, partic'ulnrly when th ey Leave hnrbor , which th c.:y ar-e expocbed todo nrter ,the nir raid .

,

To support the ' Spanio.rds in the ol os Ingt i ons nr e to bo m n d ~ in r ~ t i o n in t h tho nrmy

c o n s t n ~ batterio s. " }:; i,>

, An I ~ a l i a . n p r t icipnt ion is not e n v i s ~As a r ~ s u 1 t 'of opertrc i on "Gibrnltar" , / thc Atlo.ntic Islands (in

partioular the Canaries and Cape Verde' Islands) will ga i n inoronsed lm-.r. ;port,anco for the British conduct of the war at sea , a s well a s for our own ,The commanders in chief of t h ~ No.vy and Air Foroe aro ei.nmining how the ,Spanish defense of tho Canaries cnn be supuortod o.nd how tho Cnpe VordeI S l a ~ s c ~ be oocupiod. -

',' ~ f a.lso roquest th.o.t t ue st i on of an oocupation of and

theA ~ ~ r Q ~ P6 exami.ned and also the ndvarrbnge s and disadvantn ges th.o.t would

~ r i s ~ "Qp1 th i s for the oonduct of tho 'Wtl.r at sen and in the ni r . T h ~aaul •. ':01' tl[i i .exnmination ar-e to bo given to me as soon as possible .

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Ai r Force

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TRANSLATION OF DOC .," (c ont .' ) ,

3.

3) It a l ian Of fens ive a gainst Egypt.

6) Landin r, in

?ol i t i cn1 di scus sions have beon i ni t i tlt ed wi th t he aim of clarifying Russ in ' s a.ttitude for the timo be ing. Irrespect ive of tho r esults of those',disoussi ons , 0.11 preparnti ons for tho Bast whi ch hnve al rondy boon verballyordered will bo oontinued.

5) Russia.

. commnnders- in-chief of m Y wi l l make preparat i ons .f or . 'occupyi ng the Grock ma i nl and horth of the Aegean Son in o ~ a e need , enteringthrough BUl enr i a , .and thtis rmko t ' o ~ B i b l o the Use of Go rman a ir , force unitsa e;ninst tnrgets in the Etls'!::o l"ri in particul ar a.£o.inst thoso

Engl i sh ni r b nsos which nrc threatening the noumnni nn oi l area .

"ule;nr i a.n r equest s t o equip thei r nrmy (supply of woupons , a.mnunition )" . rnro to be given favornb10 trentment .

Fi t t i ng out , of such German ships l ying i n I t n1ian por t s as nrcsuitnb1e as trnns ports for thQ t r ansfer of the strongest poeafb 'le forcest o Libya or to North We st Af r i c a .

H o l d i n nn armored div i s i on rendy for use i n Nor th Af r i c ans pr eviously pro vided f or) .

The pr-oparnbLon s of t he brnnchee of the armed forces f'or usc in this "or any other Norb h Af r i cnn theat r e of wnr arc t o be car-r i.od on a a' fol10ws: -

- I f at a ll , t he use of ,German fo rces only comes i nto o n s i e r n t 1 o naft er t he Itn l inns hnve ronched Mor sn Met r uh. Even t hen the usc of Ge rmnn 'ai ;

f orces will be considered ma i nlyi f

theI ta ti

ans put nt our dispo sa lth

o nirbnsos nec os sury for th is . ' ..'

?repa rat ions fo r at ta cks on A1exnndr i a and th e a n a l so as todeny the Br i t i sh Corrmarid the use of tho l att er .

So a.s t e shorten the t ime needed f or the deployment , ?repo.r a.t i onswill be made for an car1y inorenso i n t ho n n Army miss ion i n TIouman i a ,

tho extent of which must be submitt ed' t o me . .

Due t o a. ohnns6 in the genern1 situntioni tmny yet be pos sible ornoce s sary t o, stnrt operatri on lSee18we" in t he sprinG of 1941 . The throe

services of' ~ h armed f orces must thorofore eo.rnost ly endeavor t o ~ vdi t i ons for such nn opernt ion in eve ry r espect . '

The C ~ of tho Ai r Foroe will make prepa.r nt ion s forthe usc of German Ai r Force uni ts i n t ho Sout h Enst Bal kans and for aeria.lr-ooonna.Ls sunce on t he southern borde r of Bulga r i a , in accor dance with theintended gr ound ~

The German Ai r F0rc e miss i on in wi l l be i ncreased to t heextent pr oposed t o me .

Instructions on th i s will f oll ow, as soon as th e n outline ofthe a rmy t s opero.t ionnl p'lnns has beon sllbmitt od t o, and npcr ovod by , me .

In order t o be nbI e t o face 0.11 event unl i t i.es and t o keep Turkey ine c k the use of an nrmy of' nn npproximnte st r enr,th of t en div i si ons ,i s

t o be the ba. si s for tho pl ann ing nnd tho calculat i ons of deployment . I t willnot be possibl e t o count on t he rc i Iwny , l eading th rough a v i a . for

moving these f orces in t o o s i t i

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init ia.l1ed s JodI

s i r;nod: ADOLF HITLER

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4th Copy

5th ~ lo th Copy

CERTIFICATE OF '.:.' Pu\NSLATI ONOF DOCUHENT NO 444- r-s

1s t Copy

2nd Copy

3rd Copy

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O.K.W. :

SFSt .

Abt . L.·1

Distr ibution:

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7) I sRa.i\ x p t tho cO!!lr.1.nnders - in-chiof to expross t ho i r opinion s o f

the ,mea.suros a . n t i c ~ · p a . t b d in t h i s directivo-. I shnl l thon Si vo orders ro r:;nrdinr,,t he methods of executi on nnd synchroniza.tion of the indiv idua.l a .ct ions . In. ordor to a.ssure secrecy , onl y a. rostr icted s tn f f wil l work on thoso pl.nns, ~ : 1 sa.pJ;llios pa.rt iculurly to tho opora.tions in Spnin nnd for tho plnns concornins t LoAtla.ntic Is les .

Ob .d ,H (Op. Abt . )

Ob .d .M ( l .Skl . ) ·

. Ob .d .L . (LwFUSt . Ia.)

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15 Ocb ober 1 9 ~ 5

I , FRED NI BBERGALL, 2nd Lt In f , 0-1335567 , her eby cer t i fy tha t Iam t h o r o u ~ h l y c onver snrrb with the Enf,l ish .. p.ncl. Germa.n Inn ;;r,ua. r.:os ; and that the

above i s a. t ruo a.nd correct trnnslp.ti on-o f Documorrb 44 '±-PS .

FRED N m A L L2nd Lt hf0-1335567

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