Nazi commandos raided the Isle of Wight during the Second World War in a sabotage operation that has been hushed up for more than 70 years, according to a new book.
The revelations throw into doubt the proud wartime boast that no German forces engaged in active military service ever encroached upon UK soil during the conflict.
Britskrieg! New book claims the Nazis DID set foot on UK soil during WWII by raiding a radar station on the Isle of Wight in a sabotage operation that has been hushed up for over 70 years
New book claims Nazi commandos raided the Isle of Wight during the Second World War
Revelations throw wartime boast no German forces came to the UK into doubt
Author Adrian Searle uncovered an account from a German soldier, Dr Dietrich Andernacht
By Mark Nicol Defence Correspondent For The Mail On Sunday
18 December 2016
Nazi commandos raided the Isle of Wight during the Second World War in a sabotage operation that has been hushed up for more than 70 years, according to a new book.
The revelations throw into doubt the proud wartime boast that no German forces engaged in active military service ever encroached upon UK soil during the conflict.
Author Adrian Searle uncovered an account from a German soldier, Dr Dietrich Andernacht, who said he was part of a secret operation to steal equipment from the RAF St Lawrence radar station on August 15 1943.
German troops crossing the Rhine in a dinghy, one of a series of stereo photographic cards supplied with the book Der Kampf im Westen
Mr Searle claims up to 12 highly trained Germans were transported in U-boats from the Channel Islands (the British Crown Dependency was the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by Nazi Germany). They came ashore in dinghies but were spotted and were then involved in a gun battle with British soldiers.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The Germans had a relatively easy crossing but I think they were shocked to be met by regular British soldiers rather than the Home Guard. It is unclear whether any British soldiers were killed or wounded. This incident was wiped from the war history within hours of it taking place, with witnesses made to sign the Official Secrets Act.
‘It is time for the Government to come clean. This incident should be added to Britain’s wartime story.’
It is understood that the raiding party gained access to the radar station and searched the building for cathode-ray direction-finding equipment. Log books from the time kept by the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) service note: ‘Special Report, police report two dinghies full of Germans in the sea. Seen at 02.18hrs, reported to police through Navy.’
Woody Bay, Isle of Wight, with the radar pylons of RAF St Lawrence on the cliff top
Derek Kent, a teenage dispatch rider for the ARP at the time, also told how quickly the ‘cover-up’ began. He said: ‘We heard about it when we were sent to the area. They said the Germans had been spotted out to sea off St Lawrence. Just a day later a man dressed in a suit came down to see us and I was asked to sign the Official Secrets Act.’
The ‘raid on the radar’ is not mentioned in official British or German war diaries. According to Mr Searle, British intelligence officers went through German military records after the war to ‘weed’ out anything potentially embarrassing to the UK.
Churchill’s Last Wartime Secret, by Adrian Searle, is published by Pen & Sword Military at £19.99.
Read more: New book claims the Nazis DID set foot on UK soil during WWII* | Daily Mail Online
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The revelations throw into doubt the proud wartime boast that no German forces engaged in active military service ever encroached upon UK soil during the conflict.
Britskrieg! New book claims the Nazis DID set foot on UK soil during WWII by raiding a radar station on the Isle of Wight in a sabotage operation that has been hushed up for over 70 years
New book claims Nazi commandos raided the Isle of Wight during the Second World War
Revelations throw wartime boast no German forces came to the UK into doubt
Author Adrian Searle uncovered an account from a German soldier, Dr Dietrich Andernacht
By Mark Nicol Defence Correspondent For The Mail On Sunday
18 December 2016
Nazi commandos raided the Isle of Wight during the Second World War in a sabotage operation that has been hushed up for more than 70 years, according to a new book.
The revelations throw into doubt the proud wartime boast that no German forces engaged in active military service ever encroached upon UK soil during the conflict.
Author Adrian Searle uncovered an account from a German soldier, Dr Dietrich Andernacht, who said he was part of a secret operation to steal equipment from the RAF St Lawrence radar station on August 15 1943.
German troops crossing the Rhine in a dinghy, one of a series of stereo photographic cards supplied with the book Der Kampf im Westen
Mr Searle claims up to 12 highly trained Germans were transported in U-boats from the Channel Islands (the British Crown Dependency was the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by Nazi Germany). They came ashore in dinghies but were spotted and were then involved in a gun battle with British soldiers.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The Germans had a relatively easy crossing but I think they were shocked to be met by regular British soldiers rather than the Home Guard. It is unclear whether any British soldiers were killed or wounded. This incident was wiped from the war history within hours of it taking place, with witnesses made to sign the Official Secrets Act.
‘It is time for the Government to come clean. This incident should be added to Britain’s wartime story.’
It is understood that the raiding party gained access to the radar station and searched the building for cathode-ray direction-finding equipment. Log books from the time kept by the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) service note: ‘Special Report, police report two dinghies full of Germans in the sea. Seen at 02.18hrs, reported to police through Navy.’
Woody Bay, Isle of Wight, with the radar pylons of RAF St Lawrence on the cliff top
Derek Kent, a teenage dispatch rider for the ARP at the time, also told how quickly the ‘cover-up’ began. He said: ‘We heard about it when we were sent to the area. They said the Germans had been spotted out to sea off St Lawrence. Just a day later a man dressed in a suit came down to see us and I was asked to sign the Official Secrets Act.’
The ‘raid on the radar’ is not mentioned in official British or German war diaries. According to Mr Searle, British intelligence officers went through German military records after the war to ‘weed’ out anything potentially embarrassing to the UK.
Churchill’s Last Wartime Secret, by Adrian Searle, is published by Pen & Sword Military at £19.99.
Read more: New book claims the Nazis DID set foot on UK soil during WWII* | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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