Secret D-Day documents emerge for auction

Top-secret documents including detailed military orders for the Normandy landings that should have been burned after reading have emerged for sale after 72 years.

The rare papers, which should on "no account" be allowed to "fall into the hands of the enemy", include codenames, folding charts and instructions for the Allied invasion of Europe and the famous D-Day assault on 6 June 1944.

The information relates to Operation Neptune, the naval stage of the invasion of France that involved 6,000 ships laden with troops and armour crossing the English Channel in the hours before the landings.

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Copies were only given to top-ranking naval officials such as Commander Thomas Harland, who received the OBE for his role in D-Day planning, according to the Daily Mirror.

Had the document fallen into German hands, then the whole operation would have been blown, as Hitler firmly – but wrongly – believed the Allies planned to attack Calais instead.

The document, which states "Copy No. 3" and is dated 10 April 1944, two months before the assault, was passed down through the Harland family and is now coming up for sale for £5,000 at auctioneers Bonhams in London on 15 June.

Meanwhile, the Imperial War Museum has released the personal papers of military leader General Sir Bernard Montgomery to help shine new light on the largest seaborne invasion in history.

As the Daily Telegraph points out, the battle plan for one of the most complex military operations ever undertaken appears to boil down to a single scrap of paper.

The museum has also published a new book to coincide with the anniversary. Firing on Fortress Europe presents first-hand, personal accounts of members of HMS Belfast's crew alongside log books to bring to life the role the ship played in the invasion.