What would the invasion of Britain (in 1940's) would have liked if the channel tunnel and Eurostar existed?

Question

Hey guys and girls
Thank you very much for your replies, but do you want to explore the issue?

We don’t know what the commanders would have wanted, so all the answers are possible, (so is mine opinion); but I am surprised that nobody realised that the tunnel is 2 ways and that would have been there from day one, hence the whole war could have been different.

You mine bridges and blow up tunnels when you escape, but the British (have been the most belligerent and intrepid army in the last 500 years) would have seen it as a landing route, would have occupied it and made head in France to protect it!

But if Hitler realised it in time, he could have disembarked in Folkestone to make head there to enable its tanks to roll in safely, (tanks were much smaller in those days). It would have shifted the centre of the war.

I strongly disagree, the British never were that coward; they will have told the public it was mined, but would not have done so because they couldnt use it either. As one of you said; if Hitler invaded England first (when it was strong) it all would have been different.

Answer 1

Firstly, the course of the War in France before the invasion would have been different because the English troops would have been better supplied.

The evacuation of Dunkirk was made possible by a bitter rearguard fight to the last man (those who were not killed were captured) by the Brigade of Guards at Calais. I suspect that the existence of a Channel Tunnel would not have made a critical difference to the defeat of the French army. However, the evacuation of the British, and of French troops trapped in the North, would have been very different if the men had been retreating to a tunnel entrance at Calais.

As previous respondents have said, the Germans could not have invaded through a Channel Tunnel because it would have been mined, and in consequence a death trap. Warfare underground (which was common in Middle Ages sieges and in the First World War) is always savage and appalling - use your imagination! We are hardly likely to be told, but I should guess that provision for destructive charges will have been built into the present tunnel.

The existence of a destroyed tunnel would have made no difference to the course of of events in 1940 after the evacuation of France. But an invasion would have been less likely if more troops had been evacuated. In particular, if there had been a tunnel it would have been more feasible to save some of the British Expeditionary Force's material - specifically tanks and field guns.

I recollect reading that the British Cabinet did seriously consider during the Second World War whether the Germans might tunnel from France. If so, presumably the relevant documents are in the National Archives.

A Channel Tunnel scheme was started in the late nineteenth century, to the extend that a section of tunnel was bored at Shakespeare Cliff, Folkestone, where the present tunnel goes under the sea. Fear of the possibility of invasion was indeed a major reason why the Victorian scheme was abandoned.

A Channel Tunnel might have made more difference in 1914 than in 1940. The small British army could have been deployed much faster, and might have linked up effectively with the Belgians, who resisted for weeks in 1914 as opposed to days in 1940. Trains were critical to military movements in 1914: use of motor transport, particularly to move supplies, was one of the innovations during the First World war.

I sometimes wonder whether we could have tunnelled to France between 1940 and 1944. A tunnel would not have supported a major invasion, but could have been a great nuisance to the Germans as part of a major raid.

Answer 2

The General Staff(Section L) under General Warlimont came up with a examination of the possibility of a ground invasion by engaging the Royal Navy in an attempt to deceive them as to the true assault point. The General refers to the plan in his memoirs but I have never been able to find it in the stenographic records-just bits and pieces. It was easy to figure from the plan that they had no interest in engaging the Royal Navy in any frontal action-so deception was the plan. Without a doubt they(Brits) has a huge advantage but the Wehrmacht was coming off a huge unexpected easy victory. Also, intelligence agents from Germany were causing havoc on the island with some really creative infiltration of the Navy. Yes, without a doubt the Brits had a huge advantage with their Navy, but even with the slightest chance of victory battles have been won. Time/Life did an excellent examination of this situation after the war. Normally I don't care for mammoth series books but this one is quite different in it's approach to the possibility of a German invasion. The third in the series of 28 volumes "The Battle of Britain" is quite unlike any other material data that is available. The volumes are not footnoted so they can never be sourced but it offers incite into the planning on both sides-I always wondered where they got all that information-the infiltration of German agents in particular-guess we will never know. sp

Answer 3

From a military perspective, any bottle-neck is a great place for an ambush (think William Wallace creaming 5,000 English in 20 minutes at Stirling, as they entered the narrow ravine) and very easy to defend..A tunnel running underwater, would be just too easy to destroy with some explosive charges.

Answer 4

It is likely that the tunnel would have been mined (in multiple places) as of the day of the declaration of war for that very purpose. If the Huns had tried to enter, it would have been real easy to collapse it on top of the invaders.

Answer 5

It never happened then, and it also wouldn't have happened if Hitler were up against British Rail, channel tunnel prices and the M25.

Answer 6

Britain was never invaded. The Nazis rocketed the crap out of them, but never could invade. Mostly because they waited too long and we entered the war. One Love People.

Answer 7

The Germans would have been stopped at customs and their tanks taken apart to check that they were not trying to evade tax by bringing in too much tobacco and wine.

Answer 8

Well being smart i don´t think they would have tried that way, i mean , the soldiers would have been killed like ducks when appearing on the other end without counting on the fact that it can be flooded or demolished very easily.

Answer 9

The Nazis would have got fed up waiting in line behind the thousands of asylum seekers who cross there every day.

Answer 10

hey man get a brain will u this question is purely hypothetical & could never have happened then as the didn't have the brains or the technology to implement it