‘Secret’ maps allegedly used by Allied troops for the D-Day landings have sold at auction for £23,000 – after being found in a cardboard box.
The collection – giving sensitive detail of the five landing beaches codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword during the 1944 invasion of Normandy – was first bought for just £10 from a local auction.
Each map outlined in extensive detail the German defences as well as featuring terrain including hills, woods, villages and roads.
The British military plans pinpointed enemy strong points, barbed wire and even minefields, which are marked in purple ink.
The maps only came to light when their owner was rifling through an assorted box of military ephemera bought as part of a £10 job lot.
The hoard had previously been in the possession of Royal Naval sub-lieutenant Walter Page, who served on Landing Craft Tank (LCT) 2138.
The vehicle was one of 900 which played a vital role in transporting men and supplies across the English Channel during the conflict.
The six D-Day landing maps sold for a total of £23,400 at Hansons Auctioneers, in Etwall, Derbyhire., last month.
They were sold alongside secret plans to liberate the Channel Islands from Nazi rule, which fetched £3,800 from an £800-£1,200 estimate.
The 50-page British military document was bought by the Jersey War Tunnels museum and will now go on public display for the first time.
The archive – codenamed ‘Operation Nestegg’ – mapped out how forces would liberate the islands from German Occupation during WW2.
The museum also bought three of the D-Day landing maps for Juno, Gold and Sword beaches for a total of £10,000.
Its owner, Lance Trevellyan, said: ‘Bringing the Operation Nestegg document and the D-Day maps home to the Channel Islands ensures they are preserved for future generations, rather than disappearing into private collections.
‘Our mission has always been to protect and share the stories of the Occupation and Liberation, and acquisitions like these enhance our mission to place Jersey firmly on the map as a destination for worldclass WWII history.’
A museum spokesperson added: ‘These purchases represent the beginning of a significant acquisitions programme to enrich and broaden the scope of the museum’s wartime collection.
‘While copies of the Operation Nestegg document are already held in Jersey, this newly acquired example is an original wartime copy, carrying the immediacy and authenticity of a document that was part of the actual Allied planning process, and is dated November 1944.
‘Their acquisition ensures these historically important items will remain in the Channel Islands for future generations to study and experience.’
The four Operation Nestegg documents dated November 1, 1944 provide detailed instructions including the number of ships involved to mine sweeping instructions for the approach by sea.
The mission was carried out by a specialist British military group called Force 135, three 700-man battalions which sailed from Plymouth.
It was not known at the time whether the 40,000 German troops stationed on Jersey and Guernsey would give up the islands without a fight.
However the liberation did not involve armed conflict and no blood was spilled – with surrenders signed in both islands in May 1945.
The documents came to light last month 80 years later after being discovered gathering dust in a cardboard box in Derbyshire.
Hansons’ militaria expert, Matt Crowson, said: ‘I am delighted these historically important documents, will be displayed for all to see.
‘Each is an important piece of military and social history from a tumultuous time.
‘The liberation of the Channel Islands ended five years of Nazi German occupation, and signified freedom for its inhabitants, and the end of the hardships endured, including shortages of food, restrictions of movement, and fear of what awaited ahead.
‘The plans for Operation Nestegg proved to be one of the star lots on the day, and shows the growing popularity of good and unusual WWII items at auction.’
A composite map of all five landing beaches sold to a UK buyer for £6,000, more than doubling its guide price of £2,500.
The remaining single maps of Utah and Omaha, both of which carried a guide price of £2,000-£2,500, sold to a French buyer for £3,400 and £4,000.
Operation Overlord saw some 156,000 Allied troops landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944.
It is thought as many as 4,400 were killed in an operation Winston Churchill described as ‘undoubtedly the most complicated and difficult that has ever taken place’.
The assault was conducted in two phases: an airborne landing of 24,000 British, American, Canadian and Free French airborne troops shortly after midnight, and an amphibious landing of Allied infantry and armoured divisions on the coast of France commencing at 6.30am.
The operation was the largest amphibious invasion in world history, with over 160,000 troops landing. Some 195,700 Allied naval and merchant navy personnel in over 5,000 ships were involved.
The landings took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
The assault was chaotic with boats arriving at the wrong point and others getting into difficulties in the water.
Troops managed only to gain a small foothold on the beach – but they built on their initial breakthrough in the coming days and a harbor was opened at Omaha.
They met strong resistance from the German forces who were stationed at strongpoints along the coastline.
Approximately 10,000 allies were injured or killed, including 6,603 American, of which 2,499 were fatal.
Between 4,000 and 9,000 German troops were killed – and it proved the pivotal moment of the war, in the allied forces’ favour.