Operation Postage Able - Intelligence Gathering

Intelligence Gathering

The success of Overlord was in part dependent on detailed topographical map information about the beaches and coastal towns along the French coast. British experience of Galipolli in World War I, with the loss of 100,000 dead or wounded troops, meant that detail was necessary to ensure the invading army did not get stuck on the beach.

Aerial photographs helped identify likely locations but, to obtain more detailed views, the Government asked the BBC to appeal for holiday photographs and picture postcards of unspecified coastal areas of France.

However, as it was known that the beaches were in parts underpinned by ancient forests which had now turned into peat bogs, much more detailed information on the target beaches and their approaches was required. Local conditions such as the composition of the beaches, hidden underwater banks, German defensive obstacles, depth of water, tidal conditions etc. would all be taken into account in the planning of the project.